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From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Members of oil bearing and impacted communities in Ogoni have again called on the respective companies and government authorities concerned to remove all unused and faulty exploration and production facilities that still litter the communities.
Representatives of the Ogoni communities, who were part of the participants in a stakeholders’ capacity building programme jointly organized by Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, and Kallop Humanitarian and Environmental Centre, and supported by a South African-based organisation, IARAN, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, also expressed high expectations while sharing experiences on the ongoing clean-up exercise by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).
The Ogoni communities stated that the unabated cases of oil spills and air pollution in the area would have been averted if the used pipes and other abandoned facilities were decommissioned based on standard procedure and international best practice.
They added that there were still visible contamination and contaminable materials in the area and at the various sites claimed to have been cleaned by the HYPREP contractors.
The communities also expressed dissatisfaction over some actions of the contractors engaged in the clean-up process and the delay in the provision of the emergency measures by HYPREP.
