Lack of funds threatens Ogoni clean-up
Ogoni
Unless the Federal Government provides adequate funds, it might be difficult to implement the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s report on Ogoniland beyond the first quarter of 2017.
A member of the governing council of the Trust Fund for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), who pleaded anonymity, disclosed this to The Guardian in Port Harcourt.
According to him, since the council’s inaugural meeting, there had not been a follow-up to take some important decisions.
He cited the recruitment of a project manger as one of the issues that was threatening the project’s take- off.
President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the board in August.
The source said the inability of the governing council to meet and forge a way forward for
the implementation of the UNEP report had created apprehension among the Ogoni people.
He disclosed that the bulk of the money for the clean up would come from Shell Petroleum, which he said, was reluctant to fund the exercise.
The source explained that other factors hampering the clean-up were the bureaucracies associated with
the setting up of a new agency, and the rigour of conforming with due process and the procurement act.
