Ogoni Clean-up: CSOs Decry Slow Pace Of Work 10 Years After UNEP Report

Ogoni activist organisation Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), has expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of the Federal Government’s cleanup project of the polluted Ogoni environment.

MOSOP President Prince Biira, made the remarks in Port Harcourt on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the release of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), environmental assessment report on Ogoniland.

According to MOSOP, 10 years after the UNEP assessment report, there has been no significant impact on the Ogoni people, complaining that the Nigerian Government has not demonstrated commitment to implementing recommended measures to ameliorate their hardships.

“The Federal Government through its agency in Ogoni cleanup, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), has not lived up to expectations and is incompetent to handle and oversee the remediation,” Biira said.

He regretted that, on June 2, 2006, when the implementation of the UNEP report was officially flagged off, the Ogoni people had hoped and expected that the project would create succour to them.
However, the project is yet to meet the expectations of the people over the years of implementation.

The MOSOP president said, “There has been an imbalance in the membership composition of the governing council of HYPREP, the politicisation of virtually everything relating to the agency, the poor release of funds for the cleanup project, poor monitoring and evaluation, failure to comply with UNEP recommendations, among other failures.”

He charged the current leadership of HYPREP to match action with words, saying the Ogoni people are tired of polluted promises that have remained in the files of the agency.

“That HYPREP should provide clean and safe potable water to Ogoni communities within a reasonable time. We also demand that all Ogoni communities should benefit as against a selected few.

“That livelihood should be provided with existing recommendations; the system should be depoliticised and only competent contractors should be contracted to handle the jobs,” MOSOP demanded.

Kamila/The sun