The Chairman of the House Committee on Host Communities at the House of Representatives, Dumnamene Robinson Dekor who was part of the Nigerian delegation to the United Kingdom, as part of federal government’s effort to clean up the impacted sites in Ogoniland, Rivers State has described the tour as very revealing.
The federal lawmaker who represents Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, embarked on the tour alongside members of the Board of Trustees, Governing Council as well as projects officers of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Projects (HYPREP).
Addressing journalists on his return to the country at the weekend, Dekor, who was a former Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly as well as one time Works Commissioner in the state, said the tour which he described as very revealing would help in addressing the Ogoni clean-up exercise.
He disclosed that the delegation which was led by the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi and also, some Nigerian stakeholders in the United Kingdom took their time to observe models of successful remediation projects.
Supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Dekor said that the visit also exposed the HYPREP team to the intricate processes of remediation exercise, and established linkages with advanced laboratories engaged in the analysis of ground water and soil samples.
He said the team understudied the Australian Laboratory Services (ALS) in relation to evaluating air pollution management.
“It was very revealing to me. I think I’m privileged to be part of the tour. We have gone through several parts of the UK and have seen a lot of practices and techniques, from what we saw, that most of the sites are being remediated and asides that, nobody is living there. A lot of them are also sites that have been in that condition for so many years”, he said.
Those in the team were the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, Senator Representing Rivers South East Senatorial District, Senator Barry Mpigi, the Director General of National Oil Spell Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, Idris Olubola Musa, Coordinator of HYPREP, Dr. Ferdinand Giadom, Representatives of UNEP, Chairman, HYPREP Board of Trustees, Dr. Mike Nwielaghi, Public Relations Officer of Central Representative Committee, CRAC, HRH, Suanu Baridam, members of HYPREP Board of Trustees and Governing Council amongst others.
The study tour of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the United Kingdom from October 2nd to 8th , 2022 involved visits to projects sites where environmental remediation has been undertaken, is in progress or where relevant expertise is available.
