Bayelsa Turns To Italy For Help On Oil Pollution

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With the dangers posed by oil spill at different times which have been left unremediated by exploration companies, the government of Bayelsa State has appealed to Italy to assist in remedying the state from environment degradation caused by oil pollution.

Making the appeal when he paid a courtesy visit to the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Roberto Colamine, Chief of Staff, Bayelsa House, Abuja, Chief Diekivie Ikiogha, said expolration and vandalisation has faced the state with serious environmental challenges.

In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, Chief Ikiogha called on the Italian government to help the state tackle its environmental challenges, noting that the peculiar terrain of the state as well as oil pollution, occasioned by oil exploration and vandalisation of oil pipeline, had thrown up enormous environmental challenges to government.

He appealed to the Italian Ambassador to support the government of President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson by providing support to the development of the Niger Delta and the country as a whole.

Ambassador Colamine, in ghis remarks, said the Italian government appreciated the commitment of Bayelsa government to developing the state and its people, and assured of its partnership in the area of investment in agriculture and capacity building.

“Italian firms engaged in the manufacture of improved farm equipment are ready to supply tractors and allied equipment to the state as well as set up a manufacturing plant if the right environment exists,” Colamine noted.

According to him, Italian companies are ready to invest in Nigeria, but they need the right economic environment and legal framework to operate effectively.

The Italian envoy also commended the Bayelsa State governor for improving the security of the state, noting that though the Boko Haram crisis was worrisome initially, it had not stopped major economic and commercial activities in other parts of the country.