HYPREP Water Stations Abandoned as Ogoni Residents Return to Streams
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) has been urged to urgently restore water stations built across Ogoni communities, following complaints that several of the facilities have become non-functional and overgrown with weeds.
The call was made by the Coordinator of Community Advancement Initiative, Edoo Friday, who expressed concern that the water stations, which were established to provide safe and accessible water to communities affected by hydrocarbon pollution, were gradually becoming abandoned projects.
According to him, the inability of HYPREP to provide diesel, water treatment chemicals, working materials and other essential supplies has affected the proper operation of the facilities.
Friday also alleged that workers attached to the water stations had not received their salaries for the past seven months, making it difficult for them to continue providing services under what he described as difficult conditions.
He said most of the stations were now overgrown with bushes, while their tanks remained empty and taps had stopped running.
“It is so painful that such an important agency is operating without a clear modus operandi. You cannot build such an important station without properly putting up a way of making it functional. The expected benefits for the people are gradually disappearing into thin air,” he said.
Friday further lamented that despite the presence of water stations in several Ogoni communities, residents were still compelled to rely on streams for their water needs.
“It is very unfortunate that Ogoni communities are still going to the streams to fetch drinking water when the water stations are scattered all around,” he stated.
He therefore called on the management of HYPREP to take responsibility for the situation and ensure that the affected water stations were restored to full functionality.
“I therefore call on the management of HYPREP to take responsibility and ensure that these stations are made functional.
I also plead with supervising government agencies and ministries to check the activities of HYPREP in the discharge of her duties.
The Ogoni people are not prepared to look at towers and empty water tanks that do not meet the yearnings and the desires of the people,” Friday stated.
He urged the relevant government agencies and ministries to intensify their oversight of HYPREP, stressing that the ultimate objective should be to ensure that Ogoni communities derive tangible benefits from the remediation and development interventions being implemented in the area.
