HYPREP Laments Setback With Ogoni Clean-Up

The Project Coordination Office (PCO) of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) has lamented hiccups in the ongoing environmental clean-up in the four local councils that make up Ogoni ethic nationality of Rivers State.
HYPREP Project Coordinator, Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, made his observations during a retreat for the Central Representative Advisory Committee (CRAC) and Zonal Representative Committee (ZRC), which were set up by the project and saddled with the responsibility of enhancing community collaborations and connections on the project in Port Harcourt,
Zabbey, while highlighting the essence of the retreat, tagged, ‘Ogoni Oil-Spill Clean-Up: Enhancing Community Collaborations and Connections for the Common Good’ regretted that despite the intervention of the committees, the project continues to face various challenges, including community expectations, insecurity, artisanal refining, community boundary disputes, land ownership, chieftaincy tussles and court cases, which, in some cases, had delayed the project. He also pointed out that the expansion of the scope of the project has added strain to its pace.
“The recent significant expansion in project activities, which includes the construction of the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Remediation, the Ogoni Specialist Hospital, the Cottage Hospital, the Ogoni Power Project, livelihood trainings, land remediation, shoreline remediation and mangrove re-vegetation, has posed additional challenges that require workable solutions,” he explained.