By Davies Iheamnachor

BILLE — THE people of the oil rich Bille Kingdom in Degema Local Government Area, Rivers State have vowed to retrace their steps by embracing their traditional occupation of fishing, which in the past brought them fame and honour.

The esteemed Ijaw kingdom made this statement Saturday during its sensitization on ‘Bille Beyond Oil: Strategies for Present and Future Sustainable Economic Development of the Kingdom’ and presentation of a book, ”Who is Who in Bille’, organized by Bille Community Welfare Association, BCWA, Abuja and Bille Kingdom Council of Chiefs, BKCC, in Port Harcourt.

Speaking at the event, Engr. Dawari Boisa stressed the need for the oil rich community to shift attention from oil to fishing, adding that the area had been negatively affected by oil exploration activities. Boisa, who asserted that the community’s over dependence on oil had made it abandon its cultural economic activities, added, “oil has done more harm in the area than good.”

He said the adoption of oil as a major means of economic development in the area was the result of the increasing oil pollution, which according to him, “has destroyed lives in the river.”  Boisa, however, warned that the community should return to its traditional economic activities of fishing and trading.

“Oil is damaging the environment and doing harm to the ecosystem. In the past, the main occupation of the Bille people was fishing. The fishing was supported with trading, where the fishes were sold and other necessary items bought from Ikwerre markets.

“The pollution of our creeks has been aggravated by the illegal crude oil refining activities, which resulted from abject poverty of the people of the Niger Delta oil bearing communities due to long neglect by the oil companies and the government.

“A move has to start and pursued vigorously for a clean-up of our heavily polluted rivers, creeks and swamps. Once the traditional occupation comes on stream, abject poverty will give way and people will start to value each other and the cultural values will be respected,” he said.

Also, in his address, the Chairman, Bille Kingdom Community Development Committee, Mr. Asatubo Kemuel stated that before the discovery of crude oil parents were able to sustain their families with the fruitful environment. Kemuel regretted that today, the economic life of the community has been destroyed by the activities of oil exploration companies.

The CDC chairman said there was need for the community to trace its steps back to fishing and trading, adding that the continuous fall in the oil price and revenues were frightening