The Fish Kill Committee inaugurated by the Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, David Irimagha to investigate the incidence of dead fish around the Bonny waterways says it has been working to ensure the fulfilment of its mandate.

The committee further said its seeming lack of overt action was predicated on the challenges of Covid-19 restrictions and other associated issues and not that it has not been working.

Chairman of the committee, Amairigha Hart, in a response to an enquiry from Kristina Reports, said the Covid-19 related restrictions was responsible for the delay in any overt action in terms of investigation into the dead fish incident that happened in the month of April 2020.

He explained that preliminary investigations, cost estimates and other supporting information have been submitted to the Bonny LG Chairman since the month of April for action, revealing that series of meetings between the committee and the LG Chairman and his team on the issue have been ongoing.

“They should not say we have not been working. A whole lot of actions have been taken in that direction within this period. It is just that these actions are not in the open due to the Covid-19 restrictions but we have been working.”

“The Chairman is very passionate about this issue and wants to get to the root of it, not just a cosmetic approach. He has directed that a proper environmental audit be carried out and we have been talking on the issue.”

Hart, a seasoned environmentalist and Secretary of the Bonny Environmental Consultants Committee (BECC), disclosed that the LG Chairman, David Irimagha, though burdened with the challenges of managing the Covid-19 pandemic in Bonny LGA, has also set processes in motion to address the committee’s recommended actions and funding requests.

“As Chairman of the committee, I have been meeting and having virtual interactions with the (LG) Chairman on the issue and he has promised that the committee would soon hit the ground running in no distant time.”

“We all know that with the lockdowns, curfew and other restrictions there was no way we could have gone on the field. Things are relaxing now and Chairman has said we shall get to the root of this incident.”

He assured the Bonny people that his committee comprised of men of integrity who are experts in their various fields, noting that the professionals already contacted by the committee were people with proven expertise in environmental audit, especially, marine ecology.