The NLNG Ship Management Limited (NSML) has said that the Bonny Terminal owned by the Nigeria LNG has been certified as the first eco-port in sub-Saharan Africa.
Abdul-Kadir Ahmed, managing director of NSML told BusinessDay in an interview in Lagos that the certification means that the Bonny Terminal is being run in accordance with the highest standard of environmental management.
According to him, the certification as an eco-port was something NSML that manages the terminal is absolutely proud of, and it gives the ship management company the motivation to get other people within the nation’s maritime industry to run their terminal in a manner that is environmentally friendly.
“One critical element that gets me worked up in shipping is the impact of plastics and debris on our waterway. It is killing us and sometimes it looks like nobody is doing anything about it because the situation is worsening. I know the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, has set up a joint industry committee to address that. They have a plan and we want to key into that plan,” he said.
Continuing, he said: “We all have a duty to ensure that we leave a better world to our children. We do not need to wait for the government because everyone has a role to play. Beyond all of this, we must be something to our communities and society.”
Ahmed said that NSML has a new plastic campaign initiative that it has started to enable the cleaning of the waterfront.
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“Our vessels already operate according to international standards when it comes to risk management. On a quarterly basis, we embark on that clean-up exercise,” he said.
Ahmed further said that NSML has been reaching out to the community around the Bonny Terminal to clean up their waterfront as well because NSML is not the only one in the waterway.
To him, collaborating with the communities around the Bonny Terminal to clean up the waterways will enable NSML to drive a huge industry campaign aimed at addressing the source of the plastics, educating people on the menace of plastics, and doing something to clean up.
“We hope to come out fully on that this year. For us, it is being driven by three A – including awareness, advocacy, and action. Awareness means educating people because a lot of people still do not understand the impact of plastics. It is about creating that awareness on the impact of plastics and educating people on how to dispose of plastics in a way that it will not be harmful to the environment,” he said.
He further said that the exercise is also about advocacy on the part of government and the society so that actions can be taken when relevant, in order to recognise plastics as a danger to the waterway.
Ahmed also said that the third represents action where everyone is expected to do their bits to keep the environment clean.
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