Dickson tasks oil companies on protection of Niger Delta

GOVERNOR Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa has decried the degradation of the Niger Delta, calling on oil companies operating in the area to protect the environment against crude oil pollution and gas flaring.

Dickson made the call in separate meetings with the management of Agip Oil Company, (NAOC) and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) on Tuesday in Yenagoa.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Francis Agbo, conveyed his principal’s feelings in a statement.

The governor said no serious effort had been made to address the problems in spite of the outcry by the people over the years.

He described Bayelsa as a state with an “unenviable title of pollution’’ and stressed the need for collaboration between government and the oil companies to tackle the menace.

He called on the oil majors to come up with a concrete plan of action on remediation of polluted sites and intensify efforts at stopping gas flaring in the region.

Dickson congratulated Mr. Alessandro Tiani on his appointment as the new General Manager, NAOC, Port Harcourt District.

He called on SPDC to support the state government’s Education Trust Fund, health insurance scheme and sports development initiatives.

“I will like to use this opportunity to once again restate the stand of the Bayelsa government on the need for the protection of the environment.

“I urge your company and other oil majors to show greater responsibility in this area.

“Due to the constant pollution that we have suffered as a people over the years, this state now bears the unenviable title of ‘environmental pollution’ as a result of a number of factors.

“We, therefore, call on all oil companies to come up with a concrete plan of action for the remediation of polluted sites and stopping of gas flaring,’’ Dickson said.

In their separate responses, the General Manager, Port Harcourt District, NAOC, Tiani, and the General Manager, External Relations, SPDC, Mr. Igo Weli, pledged commitment to the development initiatives of the state government.

They, however, solicited the state government’s intervention in checking crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.