By: Felix Ikpotor
Following allegations by some groups that some funds meant for the Ogoni clean up exercise has been missing or misappropriated by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Ogoni Trust Fund, Dr Mike Nwielaghi has come out to say that all funds meant for the exercise are intact.
Nwielaghi who spoke at the commissioning of water project in Barako community in Ogoniland and the handover of sites to contractors for construction of other projects inline with the United Nations Environmental Programme, UNEP, Report recommendations, urged Ogonis to be patient with HYPREP as the agency is doing everything possible to ensure its core mandate of remediating the Ogoni environment is achieved.
He urged Ogonis to desist from openly castigating and fighting HYPREP but to give the agency the needed support to succeed.
“What I asked from my people is patience. Let us give a little patience to this project to mature.
“We should stop castigating HYPREP as a body, if a particular contractor or HYPREP staff is not doing well let us know.
“I want to assure you that as the custodian of the money for HYPREP, the money is intact, no money is lost in HYPREP. The system in HYPREP is such that you cannot divert a kobo and we are also embarking on ambitious projects,” he said.
The BOT chairman urged the people to call on government at all levels to support the agency considering the magnitude of projects it’s carrying out.
Port Harcourt Spectator recalls that groups such as the Ogoni Liberation Initiative led by Dr Douglas Fabeke had severally alleged that funds were missing in HYPREP and had also threatened lawsuits to compel the agency to account for them.
Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Ibrahim Yusuf has reiterated government’s commitment towards implementing all the recommendations in the UNEP Report.
Speaking at the event, he said the ministry has made consistent effort in timely delivery of emergency projects inline with the report.
He charged contractors handling projects in Ogoni to expedite action especially on the other ongoing water projects.
“Following the presidential inauguration of HYPREP in 2nd June 2016, the Federal Ministry of Environment has deliberately made consistent effort to recover lost grounds and ensure timely delivery of emergency intervention projects inline with UNEP Report on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland 2011. It is therefore, the ministry’s commitment in delivering the rest four lots of the emergency water Intervention scheme before the end of this year such as the Alesa/Nchia Booster Stations, Nsesioken/Ogale/Ebubu Booster Station, Terabor/Bera/Biara Booster Station and Bori/Kpean Booster Station.
“To this end, all contractors handling the various projects have been mandated to expedite execution and delivery of the remaining plants inline with the projects stipulation and global best practice.
“Furthermore, we will be handing over 14 lots under phase two to contractors for construction of additional fourteen portable water schemes covering 52 communities across the four local government areas of Ogoniland”, he said.
Earlier, the HYPREP Project Coordinator, Professor Nenibarini Zabbey said the
completion and commissioning of the Barako Water Scheme is a further affirmation of the commitment of the Federal Government through HYPREP to the full implementation of the UNEP Report.
He said with commencement of other projects, the area would be a beehive of activities as all the projects that have been awarded would run simultaneously.
He called on the people to buy into the projects and protect the facilities.
“Different contractors have been mobilised by HYPREP to deliver different projects in Ogoniland such as the Ogoni Centre of Excellence, Cottage Hospitals, Ogoni power projects, shoreline restoration projects amongst others.
“This projects will run simultaneously and what that means is that in the coming weeks, Ogoni will be a beehive of activities, many Ogoni youths will be employed and these demonstrates the commitment of the federal government to the cleanup of Ogoniland and the restoration of livelihoods in Ogoni”, Zabbey stated.
