The Ogoni Youth Coalition Movement (OYCM) has called for a robust interface between the people of the area and the Federal Government before the commencement of the clean-up exercise.
Spokesman of the group, Progress Williams, told newsmen in Port Harcourt on Wednesday that there were series of issues that required explanations by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) before the commencement of the exercise.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Minister of Environment, Suleiman Zarma, recently announced that the Federal Government had commenced the handing over of sites to contractors for clean-up.
Williams said that there were preliminary measures which the Federal Government ought to have put in place before the commencement of the actual cleaning.
According to him, the recent move by the Federal Government is at variance with the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) report on the Ogoni clean-up.
“There are serious procedural flaws in the process of implementation; this is to us contrary to the assurances of the Federal Government.
“It is our view that we need to sit down again to re-assess the recommendations of the UNEP report in the interest of the people,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the recent announcement of project sites handover to contractors had continued to generate controversy among stakeholders in Ogoniland.