OGONILAND: Nigerian govt mobilises 16 contractors for clean up exercise

Plans by the Nigerian government to clean up Ogoniland, acclaimed to be one of the country’s most polluted environments, may have received fresh impetus.

This is as the Minister of Environment, Alhaji Suleiman Zarma, said Tuesday that the Federal Government has mobilised 16 contractors to carry out environmental remediation and cleanup of oil spill in Ogoniland.

Zarma said this when a Group of Ambassadors, interested in the remediation of the oil spill in Niger Delta, visited him in Abuja.

The visiting team included the Ambassadors of Norway, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, France, European Union and United States.

The Minister expressed Federal Government’s readiness to restore Ogoniland from the extensive damage done by years of oil spill, adding that mobilisation fees had been paid to contractors to enable them commence the remediation.

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Speaking further, he noted that the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), a Federal Government’s coordinating office, had commenced the implementation of the project through consultation and sensitisation of communities.

Earlier, the group of ambassadors led by Mr Michel Deelen, Deputy Ambassador in charge of Affairs, Netherlands, said that the international community was interested in the environmental remediation and cleanup of Ogoniland oil spill.

Deelen said that the visit was to get an direct update on the cleanup project from the ministry.

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