The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Environment, Hon. Johnson Oghuma, has appealed to the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to increase the pace of work at the various sites of the ongoing clean-up of Ogoniland in Rivers State, contending that the clean-up exercise is actually going on.
Oghuma, who made the appeal while briefing newsmen in Botem Community in Tai Local Government Area at the end of a two-day fact-finding visit by members of the committee on Tuesday, said something is actually happening in Ogoniland as far as the clean-up project is concerned.
The lawmaker likened the ongoing clean-up exercise to the building of a skyscraper and the repair of an ailing economy whose benefits would trickle down to the people in the fullness of time.
Said he, “No, something is happening. You have been following us since yesterday (Monday). You can see that something is happening. You know, when you want to build a skyscraper, you need to go down first before you will come up; that is the foundation. And when you are doing the foundation, it is like an economy. When you are trying to repair an economy, you will not know until the benefits start coming. That is what is happening with the Ogoni clean-up”.
According to him, work is going on at all the sites the lawmakers visited at the same pace as most of the contractors are working at the same pace.
He further indicated that the committee was going to compile its report after comparing notes, and subsequently submit it to the House of Representatives for appropriate action, adding that “the clean-up project is our project, and we are the representatives of the people. We have done our assessment. Our duty is to see that it is completed. We want good result”.
Oghuma, however, hinted that there was the need for HYPREP to increase the speed of the clean-up project.
On his part, HYPREP’s Project Coordinator, Dr Marvin Dekil thanked the lawmakers for visiting the clean-up sites, saying, the agency has noted all the observations made by the Rep members and assured that HYPREP would increase the speed of the clean-up project.
Dekil further noted that 90 per cent of the technical expertise of HYPREP are local people who are trained internationally both in Nigeria and in Geneva, assuring that the agency would continue to train more people.
He hinted that at every clean-up site, 35 of the workforce are local people, stressing that this implies that 1,995 local people would be recruited in all the 57 clean-up sites at the end of the day.
Dekil revealed that HYPREP was at the verge of awarding contracts for the provision of potable drinking water in oil impacted communities in Ogoniland, and solicited for patience, assuring that the establishment of the much-touted Centre of Excellence in Ogoniland would be realised within the first five years of the remediation process.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the lawmakers, the Gbenemene of Korokoro Tai and Chairman of the Supreme Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, King Godwin Giniwa expressed delight over the visit of the lawmakers to Ogoniland, adding that it was a strong indication that the clean-up project was important.
While stressing the need for Ogoni people to be carried along by the operators of the project, Giniwa appealed to HYPREP and the contractors to make the exercise faster.

By: Donatus Ebi