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HYPREP, MOSOP disagree over delay in Ogoni clean-up

By Kelvin Ebiri (South-South Bureau Chief) and Ann Godwin (Port Harcourt)
09 June 2017   |   4:40 am
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) have disagreed over the delay in the clean-up of Ogoni environment.

Ogoniland

The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) have disagreed over the delay in the clean-up of Ogoni environment.

While HYPREP pleaded for time to determine the remediation strategies to be adopted, MOSOP contended that implementing the report on the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) had become an image-laundering tool.

The HYPREP’s Project Coordinator for Ogoni, Dr. Marvin Dekil, condemned the criticisms that have trailed the exercise, particularly from the Senate.

He explained that remediation is a highly technical process, which requires time and professionalism, considering the magnitude of impacted sites.

“No two sites have the same remediation plan. Every site has its own peculiar and specific plan. So we are not in a hurry to get this done,” he said.

He explained that his office was collaborating with the Rivers State Ministry of Water Resources, Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC) and Shell.

According to him, they have raised a four-man committee to go into the four Ogoni local councils to identify all water facilities in the communities.

“We have a comprehensive data base of all the functional and non-functional water facilities in the four local councils for the purpose of implementing the emergency measures as stated in the report,” he said.

But MOSOP’s Publicity Secretary, Fegalo Nsuke, expressed concern that a presidential approval of governing structures could be described as progress, when Ogoni people do not still have access to safe drinking water, electricity, basic schools and roads.

Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallou has pleaded for patience, adding that work was on- going in the implementation process.

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