Following public outcry regarding the contamination of the river Benue by waste produced by the Pure Bio Tech ethanol company in Benue State endangering human and aquatic life the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency NESREA has shut down the plant.

State Coordinator NESREA Daniel Iormough led the team to seal the facility for contravening environmental laws by discharging pollutants into the public water system thereby endangering lives and the environment.

The pure Bio-tech ethanol company limited situated along the Makurdi Gboko road in Benue State north central Nigeria has been in the news for the wrong reasons in recent time.

This led authorities of the National Environmental Standards and regulations enforcement agency to look into the company leading to it shutting down of operations  for non availability the required effluent treatment plant which would ensure its waste are treated before being discharged into the environment.

In addition the facility was also found to be operating without an environmental impact statement and did not complete the process of  conducting an environmental impact assessment before commencement of operations.

Greek development firm Archirodon has joined forces with Saudi Arabia’s Arabian Construction Co. to build a staff village at one of Red Sea Global’s leading tourist destinations.

The joint venture will see the construction of facilities in the Amaala development, including a beach club, mosque, and multifunctional hall, according to MEED.

The reported SR1 billion ($267 million) contract will also see the developers responsible for the engineering, installation, and other assorted aspects of the residential assets and infrastructure.

Archirodon has previously worked on the Red Sea project with regards to coral transplantation, including the relocation and transplantation of around 21,000 crates of the sea organism.

Once complete, Amaala will be home to more than 3,000 rooms across 25 hotels, as well as hosting around 900 luxury residential villas, apartments, and estate homes.

In January, RSG awarded a nearly SR1 billion contract to Saudi-based Al-Ayuni Investment and Contracting Co. to develop utilities infrastructure systems at one of its resorts.

The firm will carry out the work in the first phase of development at AMAALA, while also working on minimizing Triple Bay’s carbon footprint.

RSG has made involving Saudi companies in its development a key goal, and has organized a series of local and regional meetings highlighting partnership opportunities.

Representatives from more than 100 businesses attended the first regional meeting, held in Doha in March, with RSG looking to award about SR25 billion worth of contracts as the development grows.

So far in 2023, 70 percent of existing contracts were awarded to Saudi companies.

Speaking in March Ben Edwards, group head of cost, commercial and procurement, talked up the opportunities in construction for Red Sea Global destinations, including building infrastructure, marine and civil engineering, plumbing and furnishing.

He added that the company is also looking for partners with global experience in tourism, such as food and beverages and other hospitality services.

The Red Sea project is set to open its first three resorts this year, and its Red Sea International Airport is nearing the first phase of completion.

The Chilean government’s newly announced plan to have the state take a majority stake in the lithium industry disconcerted business leaders, though analysts cautioned that the proposal appears to try to strike a middle ground between competing interests.

President Gabriel Boric announced in a national broadcast Thursday night that private companies will have to partner with the government in exploiting Chile’s lithium, a metal used to make rechargeable batteries.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric speaks during an event to present the National Lithium Strategy in Antofagasta, Chile, on April 21, 2023.

Boric said the state would take a controlling interest in each partnership, leading some to call it a nationalization of the industry, while others disagreed.

Chile is the second largest producer of lithium and holds the world’s third largest reserves of the metal.

Demand for lithium is expected to soar amid the transition to renewable energy around the world and the growth in electric vehicles that are powered by lithium batteries.

The South American country has recently been losing ground to others in the race to exploit the metal so there was much anticipation over what Boric, a leftist, would announce as the country’s strategy for the industry.

“There were no great surprises, which doesn’t mean that it isn’t a very important change in the model,” said Mariano Machado, principal analyst for the Americas at Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk intelligence firm.

Two companies currently mine lithium in Chile, Albemarle Corp. of the United States and local company SQM with concessions set to expire in 2043 and 2030, respectively.

Shares in the two companies plunged Friday following Boric’s announcement.

Creation of the new company would require approval from Congress, which has already shot down several of Boric’s key initiatives.

An online video has shown the moment a waterspout crashed onto a beach full of people.

Strong winds sent one man flying backwards but fortunately to no harm at Hollywood Beach, Miami.

The waterspout dissipated when it reached the shore so did little damage apart from the scattered beach chairs and tables.

Waterspouts are similar to tornadoes, but form over water. This one was a tornadic waterspout so developed downward during a thunderstorm and was accompanied by high winds.