Renecon says it is Not Responsible for Epe Tilapia Fish Mortality

The management of Renecon Ltd. has debunked the allegations against its activities as the cause of the Epe tilapia fishes’ death.
Mr Anthony Bademosi, the Managing Director of Renecon Ltd., said this in a statement on Monday in Lagos.
Bademosi described the allegations as unfounded.
It would be recalled that the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) on March 17 visited the site of Renecon located at Epe in response to a trending social media video report made by tilapia fish farmers.
They knocked Renecon activities as incubator for the death of the fishes.
He added that LASEPA said that they needed to conduct an investigation of the fish farmers’ allegations.
“Mrs Surah Animashaun, the Executive Chairman of Epe Local Government, has absolved Renecon of the alleged maritime infractions through the media.
“She pointed to the massive presence of water hyacinth which took over the entire fish farming area as cause of the fishes mortality.
“Renecon, however, wondered at the relentless orchestration of the development by unknown persons who are determined to bring down and rubbish the integrity of the company,” he said.
Bademosi noted that this was about the second petition by unknown persons to LASEPA against his company.
He added that the first petition collapsed after due diligent investigations.
“I wonder how my company activities which is far away from the location of the fish farm can have impacted the unfortunate circumstances.
“We believe that some powerful interests, using the instruments of state agencies, want to get rid of us in Epe.
“Renecon operates under extant laws both within the federal and state government environmental rubrics.
“ We have conducted our activities well and are in good terms with our local stakeholders, so for some faceless and alleged fish farmers to frame us as originators of the unfortunate mortality of caged tilapia fishes in EPE is not only pedestrian, but a failed clever diversionary tactics to bring us down,” he said.
He noted that traditional fish farmers and informed stakeholders were of the opinion that water hyacinth, caused the death of the caged tilapia fishes.
According to him, the water hyacinth covered and heated up the lagoon surface.
Water hyacinth is a seasonal environmental malice impacting on water transportation and lives of marine resources and fisheries.
He added that this drastically reduced the oxygen levels under water needed for fishes and other marine resources to survive.
“We have done our best to cooperate with LASEPA in their investigations in the past, and are ready to cooperate with them now and in the future.
“Furthermore, we have informed our lawyers to help us track down the persons behind the very unsavory petition with hope to call them out for targeting to disrupt our operations and also set us up against the community which has been supportive of our presence here,” he said.
He said that they complied with environmental laws as a responsible company with strong integrity.