UNEP presents Ogoni oil pollution report to Jonathan

[TGD]

 MOSOP says report not credible

A NEW United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on the impact of oil pollution in Ogoni, Rivers State, is to be presented to President Goodluck Jonathan today.

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), which was not invited to the presentation, said the report lacked credibility because it breached the United Nations' special rapporteur in 1999 recommendation that the environmental audit of Ogoni should be inclusive of all relevant stakeholders.

Similarly, Amnesty International which has in the past done extensive report on oil extractive activities and their adverse impact on the Niger Delta environment yesterday gave an indication that it would be responding to the UNEP report when it is published.

A source at UNEP office told The Guardian in Port Harcourt yesterday that the report of the $9.5 million study funded by Shell Petroleum Development Company would be formally presented to President Jonathan in Abuja. Afterwards, the entire report, which is anticipated to be contentious would be posted on UNEP's website for people to assess it.

An assertion by an official of the UNEP in 2010, claiming that only 10 per cent of oil pollution in Ogoniland had been caused by the activities of oil exploration multinationals, while 90 per cent of the oil pollution stemmed from local people involved in oil theft and sabotaging of company facilities, had stirred a row between the project team and the Ogoni. The UN body later apologised.

During 14 months of fieldwork in Ogoniland and its surrounding creeks, UNEP teams collected samples of soil, water, sediment, air and plant and fish tissue for analysis. The samples have been tested for more than 400 substances, such as petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals.

UNEP Spokesperson, Nick Nuttall, has recently denied that the report has not been delayed as a result of security concerns.

The UNEP's report contains the findings and recommendations from its two-year assessment of the environmental and public health impact of oil contamination in Ogoniland, conducted at the request of the government of Nigeria.

Nuttall explained that an extensive peer review of the findings has been carried out by external scientists.   According to him, the study represents an unprecedented effort to examine the location, nature, extent and implications of oil contamination in Ogoniland.

UNEP, he noted, hoped that the report and its findings would catalyse cooperation and a response to decades of oil-related environmental challenges and provide for the people of Ogoniland the opportunity for a sustainable future.

MOSOP President, Ledum Mitee, told The Guardian that the report lacked credibility because it fell far short of the consultation and standards adopted by the UN in preparation of such sensitive reports.

Mitee who is a member of the presidential implementation committee, which was supposed to coordinate the UNEP activities in Ogoni, said that the UNEP had pre-empted itself by releasing a shocker last year alleging that 90 per cent of the oil pollution in Ogoni was caused by sabotage.

"Issues of oil pollution have been with us for over 50 years. This is something done for image laundering for Shell. In 1999, the United Nations rapporteur had recommended an environmental audit of Ogoni, which has to be all inclusive. But as you can see, they have excluded us. The report will amount to nothing," he said.

The UNEP report, which was established to examine the impact of oil pollution on the environment and communities in Ogoniland, is the first of such study of oil pollution impact in the Niger Delta where the oil industry has operated for more than 50 years. Amnesty International said it would be responding to the UNEP report when it is published today.  The organisation has researched and reported on the devastating impact of oil pollution on human rights in the Niger Delta, including the rights to food, water, health and livelihood.



The Guardian