Be Proactive On UNEP Report, MD Urges Ogonis

Following the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report and the Bodo court verdict in the United Kingdom, the Managing Director, Treasure Energy Resources Limited, Dr. Eddie Wikina has advised that proactive actions should not stop at seeking payments and compensation or clean up but seek more of preventing future recurrence.

Dr Wikina, who spoke with The Tide in an interview  in Port Harcourt, last week, suggested that a team of technical experts should be drawn from Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and Ogoni communities to carry out Post Impact Assessment (PIA) of the Ogoni environment.

Explaining that most of the pollution resulted from failed pipelines, he added that, “the pipelines that carry crude passing through Ogoni have been in the ground since the 1970s and are well over 40 years in service. The normal design life of pipeline systems by international standards is about 25 years. It is, therefore, not surprising that these pipelines have developed low structural integrity from corrosion and normal wear of parts.”

According to the oil and gas expert, the laxity in policy implementation has given room for the operation of facilities beyond design lives and in an unsafe manner which results in failures with devastating consequences.

On the cleanup of polluted sites, he urged the Ogonis to not only demand that experts should carry out the monitoring but technical experts from Ogoni should be encouraged to participate in all aspects of the tendering, execution and monitoring processes.He also noted that in respect of the payment of damages to Bodo, it might take a long battle to get the settlement of the award as the Federal Government has 55 per cent through the SPDC/NNPC joint venture where Shell has only 30 per cent.

“If and when the £210 million is paid, who will they pay to, to avoid intra-community fights. Bodo community should consider this carefully. As they put pressure on Shell and await payment, they should be considering establishment of a trust fund to be managed by an experienced fund manager of international repute. The money should benefit the community through sustainable investments that will touch and improve lives and not paid to individuals”, he advised.

Vivian-Peace Nwinaene