Nnimmo Faults “HYPREP”, Call For Its Scrapping By Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface
The Executive Director of Health of Mother Health Foundation (HOMEF), and Right Livelihood Award Foundation Laureate, Rev. Nnimmo Bassey has faulted the naming of the environmental clean-up agency “Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Programme (HYPREP)” and called for its scrapping.
The environmentalist made the condemnation during a visit to Goi community in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State on Tuesday, November 26, 2013 to see what has changed since the creation of HYPREP to clean up the Niger Delta.
Speaking to journalists in Goi, Rev. Bassey wondered why a programme that was designed to clean hydrocarbon from the environment would be named “Hydrocarbon pollution Restoration…” asking whether the agency was meant to restore hydrocarbon to the environment or remove from it. The Laureate however, blamed the naming error on the hastiness through wish the programme was created of which there was no time to think thoroughly.
“The name “Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Programme (HYPREP) is wrong. This means to restore hydrocarbon into the environment and not to clean up. They were in a hurry to create the body that is why they did not bother to think well about the name before making it public.” Nnimmo said.
The environmentalist and Right Livelihood Award Foundation Laureate then called for the scrapping of HYPREP and replacing it with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recommended Ogoni Environmental Restoration Agency to Clean-Up the over 2,000 oil impacted areas in Ogoniland.
Rev. Nnimmo also said HYPREP should be scrapped because, “it is not the main agency, no transparency in its processes and has no road map”. Adding that, such agency as part of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources that is culpable in the pollution of Ogoni land and the Niger Delta cannot handle the Clean-Up of the area as “they cannot be a judge in their own case”.
