UNEP Report: House Seeks Implementation …Tasks Oil Firms On Host Communities Dev

House of Representatives Committee on Environment, has called for the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) Report on Ogoni land.

Chairperson of the committee, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife told Government House reporters shortly after a courtesy visit to Governor Chibuike Amaechi last Monday in Port Harcourt that oil companies must address the plight of their host communities.

Commenting further on the UNEP Report, Hon Ekwunife said that already an interface had been made with stakeholders, adding,” “We are of the strong opinion that the UNEP Report should be adhered to so that the people of the area can have justice for their land being polluted even though we are very much aware that some of the pollution are as a result of equipment failure. Some of them are as a result of vandalism, theft, corrosion and all that. The fact remains that innocent people cannot suffer for the problem that is not their own.’’

Ekwunife insisted that,” the plight of the people must be attended to. People living in those areas are suffering and you imagine there is no amount of compensation you can give to a land owner who cannot use his land for farming, cannot fish and cannot even breathe fresh air’’.

She, therefore, called on oil companies to ameliorate the sufferings of their host communities and decried delays caused by post- impact assessment which often lead to more damage and loss of lives.