By: Jesse Everly, Yenagoa
The Executive Governor of Bayelsa State, Rt. Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, has stated that multinational oil companies operating in the state will be compelled to do the right thing by sticking to internationally accepted standards as it concerns the level of pollution in the host communities.
Ably represented by the Honourable Commissioner for Environment, Hon. Iniruo Wills, on the occasion of the 5th public lecture and environmental awards ceremony held at the Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre, in Yenagoa, the state state capital, Gov. Dickson expressed dissatisfaction that rivers in the state are no longer clean.
The Contriman Governor expressed disgust on the legacy problems that have lasted for more than 60 years and called for a critical look at the damages done hitherto which thus have to be addressed.
The Publisher of the Environment Outreach, Chief Noble U. Akenge and organiser of the occasion, said that the environment shows that deforestation is still continuing at an alarming rate; indiscriminate bush burning is still thriving uncontrolled; solid wastes management is in shambles while governments across the country and even private sector concerned do not adhere to the EIA law in constructing large scale projects that require environmental impact assessment or audit to assess the likely negative impacts of such projects on the environment and the people.
