Position Paper On Bonny CSR Projects By Bonny Island Foundation

A POSITION PAPER OF BONNY ISLAND FOUNDATION ON ILLEGAL CREEK DREDGING AT ABALAMABIE, BONNY AND SOME AWARDED ROAD PROJECTS

We, as concerned indigenes and stakeholders of Bonny Kingdom in diaspora, under the aegis of Bonny Island Foundation USA/Canada, having recognized an urgent need to reevaluate our community’s priorities with a view to protecting our shared future, agree to respectfully bring to your attention, some urgent and ongoing issues in our homeland, Bonny, that need the relevant authorities to address urgently.

Illegal Creek Dredging at Abalamabie

The environmental crisis caused by the ongoing illegal dredging activities in the creeks and channels in Abalamabie Community, in the Bonny Local Government Area, has made the Abalamabiie Community to be apprehensive that the ongoing illegal dredging which involves extensive extraction of materials, particularly sand for commercial gains, from riverbeds and channel sides, will result in long-term severe ecological degradation. The community is already experiencing devastating erosion due to prior illegal suction dredging for commercial sand.

Several homes, access roads, and bridges have been lost to the river, posing serious risks to lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), illegal and unregulated dredging, especially suction dredging, which is being used in our community invariably leads to widespread environmental destruction.

Dredging activities deplete fish stocks, damage aquatic ecosystems, lower riverbeds, and release toxins into drinking water tables and accelerate shoreline collapse, often resulting in the loss of agricultural land and residential properties.

Despite these known consequences, illegal dredging continues unabated in our community, further compounding environmental damage and increasing the vulnerability of residents.

We therefore strongly support the position of the Bonny Improvement Association (BIA), Port Harcourt that all dredging along the Abalamabie creek should stop.
We note that state governments in Nigeria, particularly Lagos State, have taken decisive steps to curb illegal sand dredging following incidents of flooding, shoreline destruction, and displacement of waterfront communities. Therefore, we respectfully request the Bonny Local Government Council and the Rivers State Government to take similar immediate and decisive actions to avoid irreversible damage to Abalamabie Community. Immediate government intervention is critical to safeguard both the environment and the well-being of our people.

Bonny Road Expansion Project
We applaud the good gesture of the federal government and the NLNG in authorizing and funding the internal expansion of the roads running from the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal gate to Coal Beach, projected to last 50 years. However, we are not enthused with the quality of work being done by Evomec Global Services, the contractor handling this project.
The company did not construct drainages before the construction commenced, and there are no signs that they intend to provide pedestrian walkways and streetlights on this road. The lack of adequate drainage systems and heavy traffic influx have led to environmental degradation, safety risks, and flooding for residents. Also, the use of tiny rusty iron rods for the road expansion work does not give us a high level of confidence that this road will last more than two rainy seasons.

Bonny Ring Road
The Bonny Ring Road project is yet to be completed. We are aware that the contract for this road project has been awarded more than once, and we are interested to know why progress has stalled. To this end, we implore the Bonny Local Government Chairman to engage the contractor handling this project to find out why this project is still delayed, and to demand that work on this road commences in earnest to completion.

We call on all stakeholders, especially the Chairman, Bonny Local Government Council, Amasenibo Hon. Abinye Blessing Pepple to use his good offices to treat these matters with the urgency and seriousness they deserve.

Signed, for and on behalf of Bonny Island Foundation general membership:
Dr. Leslie Green – Chairman, Board of Trustees, BIF
Dr. Peter Hart – Member, Board of Trustees, BIF
Prof. Adango Miadonye – Member, Board of Trustees, BIF
Dr. Gibson Green – Member, Board of Trustees, BIF
Engr. Norman Halliday – President, BIF
Mrs. Irene Brown – Vice President at-large, BIF
Prof. Joy Ben-Jumbo – Vice President, West, BIF
Mrs. Mercy Halliday – Vice President, East, BIF
Mrs. Ala Halliday-Dosunmu – General Secretary, BIF
Dame Joyce Simon-Ogan – Asst. General Secretary, BIF
Mrs. Ibiene Jumbo – Financial Secretary, BIF
Mrs. Opunne Furo Odulana – Treasurer, BIF
Mrs. Cecelia Banigo-Akinboade – Welfare Secretary, BIF
Dr. (Mrs.) Princess Benstowe, Provost, BIF
Warisenibo Atedoghu Denton Banigo, Immediate Past President, BIF