HYPREP partners Australian centre on Ogoni cleanup
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project has announced plans to partner with Australia’s Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment to enhance the cleanup in Ogoniland, Rivers State.
While describing the partnership as strategic, HYPREP described the centre as one of the world’s best remediation institutes.
HYPREP’s Project Coordinator, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, stated these while speaking to newsmen shortly after he led the Managing Director/CEO of crcCARE, Prof Ravi Naidu, on a facility tour of the centre located in Wiiyakara, in Khana Local Government Area.
Prof Nenibarini stated, “What we are doing is novel in this region. We are also developing a template for remediation for the Niger Delta and the rest of Nigeria.
“So in doing that, we need collaboration and we are not just collaborating with any institution, we decided to collaborate with the world’s best.
“crcCARE in Australia is one of the world’s best remediation centres and I am delighted that today, we have Prof Ravi here at our centre of excellence for environmental restoration.”
Prof Naidu described the centre as an outstanding project.
He expressed the centre’s readiness to partner with HYPREP to achieve the environmental remediation and restoration of Ogoniland.
“The centre of excellence is needed here because someone would know that the World Health Organisation report states that nearly 30 million people die every year from environmental pollutants.
“We see this as an excellent initiative, I see an investment of resources absolutely outstanding and also, I am chair Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations International Network on Soil Pollution.
“This is our vision as well, to train, to build capacity in as many countries as we can,” he said.
Speaking on crcCARE, Prof Naidu said when it was established, the clean-up industry was worth $300m per annum, adding that today the industry was employing 10,000 people and worth $6bn per annum.
