Diri tasks Reps on PIB, insists on cleanup of Niger Delta region

BAYELSA State Governor, Douye Diri, yesterday, charged members of the House of Representatives to expedite action on passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill ( PIB) as to expeditiously correct some of the injustices in oil producing states.

Diri gave the charge when members of the House Committee on Oil Spill Investigation, Cleanup and Remediation in Oil Producing States visited him at Government House, Yenagoa.

In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary ( CPS), Daniel Alabrah, he stated that when passed into law, the PIB would be an avenue to correct some of the wrongs oil companies had done to their host communities, noting that the National Assembly had neglected the bill for too long.

“I appeal to them to have serious interest in the PIB. The PIB has been there from one Assembly to the other. It is another source of ameliorating what we perceive as cheating on the part of the oil companies and Nigeria on the Niger Delta and its people,” he said. He lamented the level of oil companies and Federal Government’s neglect, saying the people have suffered so much environmental degradation and pollution of water bodies leading to increase in cancer and other strange ailments.

Diri, who queried the standards oil firms apply in their operations in the Niger Delta compared to global best practices, he also canvassed cleanup of the entire region, noting that the Ogoni cleanup, which attracted international attention, was a fraction of the oil spillsimpacted environment.

He expressed the hope that if implemented, the committee’s report would bring succour to people of the area.

Earlier, chairman of the committee, Amiru Tukur, stated that they visited the state on a verification mission to some oil spill sites to ascertain the actual cleanup and remediation, saying the outcome would form the basis for the report findings it would submit to the House.