FG Faults Media Reports On Ogoni Clean-Up Projects

FG Faults Media Reports On Ogoni Clean-Up Projects
The Federal government on Tuesday decried a media report, which claimed that the contracts for the Ogoniland cleanup were awarded to unqualified companies.

The minister Of Environment, Suleiman HASSAN Zarma, together with the Project Coordinator of HYPREP that is responsible for the exercise, Mr Marvin Dekil and representatives of the 21 companies that handled the project, while interacting with journalists in Abuja maintained that government went through due process before awarding the contracts to those companies that bidded.

“They have the competencies, they are registered with corporate affairs commission to carry out business in Nigeria, they also have technical partners overseas with requisite experience and they have showed us that they have capacity to deliver on those projects.

The Minister explained that, “We have 21 contractors today, we had sixteen and those sixteen were within the threshold of the ministerial board so they were dealt with apt ministerial tenders board level.

“So, those whose file are coming up now are those who are above the ministerial tenders board so they had to go to federal executive council for approval and that we secured in the 1st sitting of 20th March 2019.”

The online Media had earlier claimed that no fewer than sixteen unqualified companies are handling the remediation exercise in Ogoniland, disclosing further how the agency flouted its own rule in awarding the contracts.

But the HYPREP Coordinator argued that since when it advertised expression of interest to public in National dailies, it ensured all companies that bidded met the requirements before taking Federal government job.

He explained, “I also use this opportunity to reemphasize the procurement process of HYPREP and to assure you that we adopted a very robust and transparent process in arriving at all our 21 contractors.

“First 16 which were within the approval limit ministry tenders board are those ones on site currently working and the last five that had to go to FEC for approval which are the ones we are having this kickoff meeting for today.

“To start with, when we advertised for submissions and expression of interest, we made it very clear according to the laws of Nigeria, that there are certain requirements referred to as mandatory requirements for any company that would want to participate in the federal government projects.

“What are these mandatory requirements? Registration with CAC is one, PENCOM, NSITF, ITF, tax clearance, IRI; these are requirements that you must have to participate in the process.

After the clarifications and explanations from HYPREP coordinator and some representatives of the companies, the minister, however, appealed to the media to join government in promoting the good work it is doing in getting rid of oil pollution in Niger-Delta regions.

Zarma emphasized that the federal government was very committed to the total restoration of livelihood in Ogoniland, and has put in place adequate monitoring outfits to ensure total compliance of contractual agreements.

“We have the Board of Trustees, the Governing Council, UNEP, the traditional rulers of Ogoniland, Youth And Women Organisations and above all, there are the two chambers of the National Assembly as well as the State government, all monitoring progress being made.

“In addition, both the ministry and HYPREP mornitoring teams are very vigilant on what the contractors are doing. So we urge the media to join and mornitor the implementation processes of this laudable government resolve to bring livelihood to Ogoniland and the Niger Delta.”

Saghir el Mohammed
Director Press
Federal Ministry of Environment
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FG approves five new contractors for Ogoni clean-up
The Federal Government has approved five new contractors for the Ogoni clean-up.

Minister of Environment, Alhaji Suleiman Zarma disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when he met the new contractors recently approved by the Federal Executive Council in addition to the 16 existing contractors.

The Minister urged the contractors who will handle the remediation of the oil spills in Ogoniland to deliver quality work.

He urged the contractors to rise up and support the Federal Government’s efforts in defending the Ogoni clean-up project.

According to him, “it is important for you to defend your work because the contract affects your work and subsequent work you will apply for.

The Project Coordinator, Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), Dr Marvin Dekil in his remarks stated that a robust process was adopted in arriving at selecting contractors for the project.

Dekil said that the contractors were competent and that some of them had technical partners abroad to jointly deliver quality work.

He assured that they would remediate Ogoni oil spill to meet best practices and standard.

The Project Management Consultant, Mr Eric Onyeiwu, said that he would ensure that the contract is executed inline with specifications within the agreed time.

Saghir el Mohammed
Director Press
Federal Ministry of Environment