Expert Wants Legal Backing For HYPREP 

An expert in the oil and gas sector, Dr Terry Bagia, has decried the absence of legal backing  in the establishment of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).
Dr Bagia, who spoke with The Tide in Port Harcourt at the weekend, said there was no act of parliament in the establishment of HYPREP, making the agency an illegal outfit that can be disbanded by another government.
He pointed out that it was a big misnomer that a project of international status like the  clean up of the Ogoni environment and by extension, the entire Niger Delta, was handled by  HYPREP which is not backed up by an act of parliament.
Comparatively, he said, “the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was created by an act of parliament, which makes the interventionist agency to be a product of the law, and thereby standing the test of time, but HYPREP is not a product of the law.
HYPREP should go through the process of legislation through the act of parliament to consolidate its existence as an institution, especially with the fact that its mandate is expected to cover beyond Ogoni.
In his assessment of the activities of HYPREP so far, the expert in Petroleum Law described HYPREP as  a  scam, saying the project was not only about remediation but to address critical issues which were part of UNEP recommendations.
He faulted the operations of HYPREP on the ground that there were issues of “technical failure, financial impropriety and conflicts of interest”
He pointed out that fundamental issues like the establishment of “centre of excellence, alternative livelihood, integrated soil management centre, provision of drinking water and facilities”, which are critical to the clean up process, according to the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), were yet to be addressed.

Taneh Beemene