The Federal Government has restated its commitment to the cleaning up of Ogoni land in Rivers State, South-South Nigeria.
The Coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), Dr. Marvin Dekil, stated this during a meeting with journalists in Port Harcourt where he gave a report on the work done in the past 100 days.
He hinted that the process leading to the provision of potable water as stated as one of the emergency measures in the report was ongoing.
Dr. Dekil added that more contamination sites have been opened in the four local government areas of Ogoni Kingdom.
HYPREP, an agency set up by the Federal Ministry of Environment to oversee the cleanup project, said it would also train and engage the people from the community to be involved in the project.
READ ALSO: U.S. Seeks Accelerated Cleanup Of Ogoni Land
This is coming five weeks after the United States government expressed its keen interest in the cleanup of Ogoni land in the Niger Delta.
The U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, stated this during a visit to the headquarters of the HYPREP in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Mr Symington said the U.S. government was willing to partner with the operators of the process for the upliftment of people of the affected communities.
Wike Wants UN To Prevail On FG For Ogoni Cleanup
Earlier in June, Governor Nyesom Wike had called on the United Nations to prevail on the Federal Government to implement the cleanup of Ogoni land which was flagged off last year.
He made the call when he received the UN Resident/ Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr Edward Kallon, at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
The governor, who regretted that nothing had been done so far on the Ogoni cleanup, said large-scale environmental pollution in different parts of the state had led to environmental degradation, which negatively affects the sources of livelihood of the people.
He added that the cleanup of Ogoni land should not be politicised, as it dwells directly on the development of the area.
