TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has expressed happiness with the decision of the Federal Government to reposition Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).
A statement by the Secretary General of MOSOP National Transition Council, Bariala Kpalap, however said, reorganization alone could not address weaknesses by HYPREP.
Kpalap, in the statement, asked Federal Government to carry out forensic programme on HYPREP and prosecute anyone found culpable through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He alleged that the clean up in Ogoniland recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report has not been successful due to high level of corrupt practices in the agency.
MOSOP National Transition Council also warned that the Ogoni clean up must be taken as environmental matter and not a political issue.
Similarly, the Environmental Rights Actions/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged the Federal Government to rejig the Governing Council, Board of Trustees and Project Coordination Office of HYPREP to ensure transparency and success in the clean up of Ogoni environment.
Executive Director of ERA, Godwin Ojo, made the call at the weekend, noting that the only way Federal Government could get it right in the clean up of Ogoni environment and other polluted areas in the Niger Delta region, is by restructuring the HYPREP.
Ojo, represented by Michael Karikpo, Programme Manager of Port Harcourt ERA office, regretted that about 90 percent of contractors allotted for the remediation exercise, were incompetent in the work.
He stressed that the management of HYPREP could not justify the already released fund for the clean up three years after the board was established.