Bayelsa State Commissioner for Environment, Iniruo Wills, says the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) of the Federal Government is a phantom and waste of time.
Speaking in Yenagoa, Monday, to mark the third anniversary of the release of the United Nations Environment Programmes (UNEP) Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland in Rivers State, he said the agency and others like the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) have not been able to restore hope to host communities devastated by the extractive activities of multinational oil companies.
The HYPREP was inaugurated in 2012 by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources to implement the UNEP report.
According to Willis, said: “The inauguration of the HYPREP by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources in 2012 to implement the UNEP report and the earlier creation of NOSDRA provided some hope that the worlk of compelling oil corporations, private and government, to respect the environmental rights of our communities and redress the damage dome to them would soon start effectively.
“Sadly, three years after the UNEP report, the work is yet to start.
“In particular, HYPREP whose inauguration was attended by much fanfare is proving to be a phantom rather than a source of succour,” he stressed.
The commissioner called on Shell, Chevron, Agip, the ministries of Petroleum Resources and Environment, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), HYPREP, NOSDRA, Niger Delta Development Commission and the National Assembly “to take immediate, visible, robust steps to commence or cause the remediation, redress and restoration of our devastated communities and environment in all dimensions.”
“It is time to demonstrate by clear action that we truly care about the environment and about the future of host communities”, he added.
SOURCE; http://dailyindependentnig.com/2014/08/hyprep-failure-says-bayelsa-commissioner/
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