Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, has tasked the Hydro-carbon Pollution Restoration Programme (HYPREP) to fast track the cleanup of oil spills in the Niger Delta.
The minister gave the charge on Thursday in Abuja at a meeting with the leadership of HYPREP.
Alison-Madueke decried the level of degradation and pollution in the region and called on all stakeholders to join the cleanup campaign.
She said that there could be no meaningful development in the region if environmental degradation was not tackled.
The minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Amb. AbdulKadir Musa, said that the ministry would continue to work with relevant government agencies, oil companies and donor agencies to remedy the situation.
Responding, the National Coordinator of HYPREP, Mrs Joy Nunieh-Okunnu, said that HYPREP was already in the process of implementing the emergency measures to clean up the region.
“We are collaborating with the University of Port Harcourt Department of Public Health to carry out epidemiological study and set up medical register for Ogoniiand,’’ she said.
She said that the programme was also carrying out enlightenment campaigns and consultations with chiefs and youth leaders in the area on the dangers of artisanal refining to their health.
She said that the socio-economic blueprint for the development of the affected communities shall be implemented through community-based cooperative societies to ensure that the programme was sustained.
It will be recalled that HYPREP was established by the Federal Government in July to ensure the restoration of areas devastated by oil pollution in the Niger Delta.
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