FG seeks fresh support for Ogoni clean-up

The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, on Tuesday said the Federal Government was seeking fresh support from donor agencies and development partners to sustain the Ogoni cleanup project as existing funding arrangements continue to decline.
Lawal spoke at a conference on donor facilitation and diplomatic support for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) held in Abuja.
“The resources that have driven much of the progress achieved to date are nearing depletion,” the minister said.
He added that additional financial and technical support was needed to complete ongoing remediation projects and sustain environmental restoration efforts in Ogoniland.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ogoni Trust Fund, Emmanuel Nwiika Deeyah, said oil firms had yet to fully provide the one billion dollars recommended for the cleanup despite 10 years of implementation.
“We have done 10 clear years now and we haven’t gotten even the one billion dollars that was supposed to be contributed fully,” he said.
According to him, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoniland recommended that oil companies contribute one billion dollars every five years for 30 years to fund the remediation programme.

He added that refinery operators and some local operators had not contributed to the project.

“The refineries and the local operators have not contributed a dime,” he noted.

Deeyah said the conference was organised to attract financial support, technical partnerships and international collaboration for the next phase of the cleanup.

He said years of oil pollution destroyed farmlands, rivers and underground water sources in Ogoniland, affecting farming and fishing activities in affected communities.

HYPREP Project Coordinator, Nenibarini Zabbey, said the agency had completed remediation of 30 polluted sites identified in the UNEP report, while work was ongoing in other medium and high-risk locations.

He said HYPREP had also created over 7,000 direct jobs through remediation activities and trained more than 5,000 youths and women in different vocational skills.

According to him, about 50 Ogoni communities currently have access to potable water, while additional projects are ongoing to expand supply to more communities.

Zabbey added that the agency was also constructing healthcare facilities, restoring mangroves and developing a Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration in Ogoniland.

“We need support in completing the remaining high risk sites, sustaining water facilities and expanding electricity distribution across Ogoniland,” he explained.

المصدر: Daily Trust (NG)