The Federal Executive Council has approved N6.4 billion for the provision of portable water in the four Local Government Areas of Ogoniland.
The local government areas are Gokana,Khana,Tai and Eleme
Minister of Environment, Muhammad Mahmoud, who disclosed to State House Correspondents at the end of the Council meeting on Wednesday, said the water project was contained in a memo on cleaning up Ogoniland “graciously approved” by President Muhammadu Buhari to provide drinking water and alternative livelihood for the people of the area.
This he said was in line with the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation (HYPREP) commissioned in 2016 to clean up areas impacted by the pollution based on a report by the United Nations Environment programme.
Mahmoud said the mandate had 6 water projects that would be provided for local government areas of Ogoniland adding that the projects which begin immediately, are in different prices and different completion periods, and would link the Rivers State Government water system.
According to him,a total of 15 oil polluted sites had so far been cleaned up and certified clean in Ogoniland but regretted the delay in completion of the exercise due to land ownership tussle involving some communites in the area.
The Minister said the project also required time in order to execute it properly explaining that Hydrocarbons cause cancer and cleaning up exercise must conform with the standard of the World Health Organisation WHO and the standard set also by UNEP.
” This is a project that you want to take time to do and do it well.We are talking about the livelihood of people contaminated with soil by hydrocarbons,these are cancer causing chemicals,or we call them carcinogens.” he said.
