Dutch ambassador pledges support for Ogoni clean -up
By Memoye Oghu, Port Harcourt
The Netherland Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Marion Kappegne Van De Coppelo has pledged the support of her home government in the clean-up of Ogoni land.
She also expressed the readiness of the Kingdom of Netherlands to work with the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project and other stakeholders to ensure the smooth implementation of the United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on the Ogoni clean- up.
She made the pledge during her tour of an impacted site in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers state on Tuesday to access the level of compliance on remediation works by the agency charged with the responsibility of implementing the report.
The Ambassador maintained that the government of Netherland is working with other donors to ensure the improved living conditions of the people, saying that the job requires patience from the people and expressed the hope that the companies would meet the timelines for the exercise.
“We are satisfied with what we have seen so far. We’re appealing for patience and cooperation from the people. The exercise requires patience and understanding. We’ll support HYPREP to ensure the success of the clean-up,” she told newsmen after inspecting the soil remediation centre in Eleme.
Also speaking to journalists shortly after the inspection, HYPREP Coordinator, Dr. Marvin Dekil explained that the federal government is committed to ensure that the exercise was done in line with internationally acceptable best practices, saying that the contractors have been fully mobilized to sites in accordance with the recommendations.
He maintained that the companies that were engaged were carefully selected based on their experiences as against the insinuations that the companies were hand-picked for political patronage, saying that the project requires technology since it’s the very first time of the exercise in Nigeria.
On the provision of portable drinking water as part of the emergency measures contained in the UNEP report, he said that HYPREP has concluded arrangements with the Rivers state government to give the people potable water that meets the standards recommended in the report.
Earlier, the Regent of Eleme, Emere Dr. Philip Obele thanked the ambassador for finding time to visit the people and the site, rather than reading about progress of the exercise on the pages of newspapers.
He lammented that the Ogoni and Eleme people have no good drinking water over the years and prayed that the clean-up exercise should be carried out according to the UNEP recommendations so that the people can get back their lands.
