HYPREP Commences Investigation to Unravel Cause of Water Tank Collapse in Ogoni

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) has commenced investigation to unravel the immediate cause of disturbing collapse of the overhead tank at the newly inaugurated Gwara Water Station in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, on Tuesday.

Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, in Port Harcourt, the committee set up to investigate the incident, revealed that action has already commenced to get to the remote cause of the incident.

Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey, had immediately after the incident constituted a high-level committee to visit the site and commence investigation into the immediate and remote cause of the incident.

Prof. Zabbey empathised with the Gwara community and asked for calm, assuring that steps are being taken to ensure the damaged facility is being restored, and water reticulated to affected communities

Meanwhile, during a briefing with journalists at the HYPREP headquarters in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday, Mr. Enuolare Mba-Nwigoh, Head of Communication, HYPREP, noted the agency is taking every proactive major to resolve the issue, including investigating the cause of incident, restructuring the facility and restoring portable water for the five affected communities benefiting from the water project.

He said: “The reason we invited you is to inform you officially about the unfortunate incident and to tell you measures and steps we have taken from when the incident happened to this point which include the proactive measure taken by the Project Coordinator to quickly constitute a committee to immediately investigate this matter.

“Also, to sympathise with the Gwara community over this unfortunate incident, just like is the case, they may not have water for the period, but also to assure them that this damaged facility will be restored as soon as possible and the water will be restored.

“To, equally inform you with the fact that there is no compromise on the quality of all HYPREP projects. And that is because HYPREP had put in place consultants who check for quality control and quality assurance. This is our commitment to delivering quality projects to our people of Ogoni.”

Mba-Nwigoh further noted that HYPREP has inaugurated 16 water projects which supplies water to 45 communities in Ogoni. “If you check out the incident, 40 communities still have water, and we are targeting to provide portable water to 65 Ogoni communities by the end of this year”.

He assured “the good people of Ogoni that HYPREP is still on course in not only providing portable water to these communities, but equally committed to the speedy completion of all our other projects”.

The Vice Chairman of the investigation committee on the collapsed water facility, Mr. Ichibor Gowon, disclosed that on visit to the site, they discovered broken walls and wreckages on the ground round the facility.

“As part of the team that visited the site this morning, what we discovered is broken walls with wreckages all over the ground, water pulling down the front walls. We had to inform the PC of our discovery, we didn’t know he has already contacted the Rivers State Ministry of Environment and Engineering. I believe by this time they will be on the site”.

Also revealing that teams from the Rivers State Ministry of Environment and the Committee were visiting the incident site as at the time of filing this report, Gowon said: “When the engineering team visit later in the day with investigation from our own team, I am sure we must at then have discovered remote cause of the damages”.