BusinessEnvironmentFish Farmers In Kwara Orders To Stop Discharge of Sewage Into A Dam

ILORIN — Fish farmers within the boundaries of the Asa Dam waterworks in Kwara state have been ordered to stop the discharge of sewage into the dam immediately.

State Commissioner for Water Resources, Wahab Femi Agbaje, also directed that the 250-metre minimum setback stated in the law should be maintained by all the fish farmers operating by the dam side.

This was contained in a communique issued at the end of stakeholders meeting with the fish farmers at the weekend in Ilorin, the state capital.

Part of the communique said “that the effect of fish farming operators’ activities along Aliara, Egbejila, Panpo and other areas has reached an alarming stage, with “The effect of effluents being discharged into Asa Dam lake having great impacts on the water supply facilities in Asa-Dam waterworks, such as GRP I beam that supports the lamina tube sand filtration media equipment, resulting into high wastage.

 “It has also been agreed that the government must now have the data of and certify all the fish farmers operating in Asa-Dam area, while a seminar will be organised for all of them on safety measures by the Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency (KWEPA).

“Effluent treatment machines of affordable cost should be procured for use by the operators, while KWEPA will carry out routine inspections of their activities for public safety.

“It is also recommended that the fish farmers operating around the Dam area should be registered with the Ministry of Agriculture,” it added.

 “The discharge of effluent to the dam increases the cost of treatment of water and reduces the quantity of treated water supply to the citizenry. This has to be addressed now,” it said.

The communique however, listed some conditions to allow fish farmers within the areas of the Asa Dam to continue their operations in the area, while the Ministry of Water Resources is lamenting the negative effects of their activities on public facilities and water supply to the people of the Ilorin metropolis.

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Hassan Umar Shallpella (Regional Correspondent)

Veteran journalist and recipient of A.B.C Yola, Reporter of the Year Award (1997), Hassan Umar Shallpella, works with WAP as a Regional Correspondence. He was trained at Institute of Mass Communication and Technology Jos and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Training School Lagos.He was a News desk Editor and a Correspondent at the Punch newspaper and till 2019, was the Deputy Editor ofThe Scope newspaper.

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