The House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities has assured host communities who are victims of Oil spillage that the legislature would not spare any effort to ensure environmental justice and restoration of livelihoods for their communities.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities, Dumnamene Dekor, gave the assurance in Port Harcourt, Rivers State when he spoke with some of the affected communities.
The pledge is coming on the heels of recently reported oil spills in parts of the Niger Delta region, including Nembe in Bayelsa State, Gbaramatu in Delta State, among others.
Dekor said: ‘The committee is dismayed by the grave distortions and desecration of the environment, as well as the grievous discomfort, dislocation, and despair the spills have effected in the lives and living conditions of citizens and residents of the affected communities.
Read Also: Ijaw Groups Threaten Oil Firms For Neglecting Host Communities
‘Being fully aware of its mandate seized upon it by the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives, which includes catering to the ‘welfare and protection of rights of oil mineral producing communities,’ the Committee on Host Communities has activated measures to intervene on the issue of oil spills to ensure that justice is not only done but seen to have been done.
‘In this regard, the Committee is not only concerned about the urgent imperative for adequate compensation and environmental remediation but importantly, about ameliorating the longer-term effects of the spills on local inhabitants, including the unborn while guaranteeing livelihoods for those affected at the instant moment.
‘The committee is deeply concerned about reports of denials and counter-denials by companies, communities and regulatory agencies of government and the consequent import of lack of accountability and transparency in the management of oil spills which invariably leave communities short-changed if not completely denied of compensation, remediation, and assurance of continued economic livelihoods’.
The committee, however, appealed to affected communities to keep calm and identify with all legal and meaningful interventions by relevant stakeholders to address the clearly unacceptable situation occasioned by the spills.
Dekor assured that the House of Representatives would certainly do all within its powers to cause a positive and sustainable change in the narrative.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
