Environment
Sabotage by Oil Thieves, Cause of Enviromental Pollution in the South – South — Survey
Data from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) indicate that oil spills and pollution occur due to sabotage by oil thieves, pipeline vandals, equipment failure and operational accidents.
The data further showed that some 1,000 incidents of spillage were reported on a monthly basis from oil facilities across Bayelsa State alone.
According to Mrs.
Ayibakuro Warder, a woman leader in Ikarama, an oil producing community in Yenagoa Local Government of Bayelsa, oil exploration has brought only pains to residents whom she claims suffer losses due to spills which destroy farm products.Warder also expressed deep concern that oil related pollution and gas flares cause damage to public health as the people of Ikarama record high incidence of respiratory diseases.
She recalled an oil spill incident about six years ago that ravaged a part of the community.
“Women are the worst affected by gas flare, and oil spills which we contend with almost on a daily basis. We notice dwindling fish catch due to spills that pollute the rivers, streams, ponds and swamps.
“As for our farms, when it is time to plant cassava, the yield is frustrating as a result of oil spills, there is a specie of cocoyam we used to have but research showed that it got extinct due to gas flare,” Warder said.
Speaking on a recent oil spill incident from an offshore facility in Bayelsa where several operators denied responsibility, Mr. Idris Musa, Director-General of NOSDRA decried the high rate of spills in the state.
According to Musa, the effect on the environment and ecology could sometimes take decades to remediate.
He said that the agency had consistently sensitised the oil communities on the inherent dangers.
“The rate of oil spills in Bayelsa is a cause of worry and we should ask ourselves if this type of things happens in other countries that produce crude.
“The oil fields in the entire Southern Ijaw swamps are very notorious for pipeline vandalism by oil thieves who steal crude for local refining and in the process pollute the environment.
“It is a very big challenge to our resources as regulators and each incident has to be investigated as majority of the spills are caused by vandals,’’ Musa said.
Also, NOSDRA and some environmentalists expressed concern over alleged environmental impact of Conoil Producing Limited’s operations in Bayelsa.
The concern was raised over the firm’s alleged insensitivity to the sustenance of the environment where it operated.
It was also raised over its alleged continued failure to appropriately respond to an undersea leak in its oil field pipeline in the state, since Sept. 3 , 2020.
NAN recalled that NOSDRA’ Director General, Musa, who confirmed the incident on Dec. 2, 2020 alleged that the company had operated in breach of regulatory guidelines.
Musa had alleged that the oil firm had the habit of causing avoidable spills and had previously been sanctioned for degrading the environment.
“This oil company has been spilling oil for a period of time now, from our findings, it is from an underwater pipeline under pressure creating bubbles on the water surface.
“All the directives given to it to contain the oil spill, shut down, and replace the leaking pipeline, near the shore in Sangana, Bayelsa, fell on deaf ears.
“The agency sanctioned the company for this untoward act, but nothing has changed. The leakage continues and the oil company behaves irresponsibly even though it is a Nigerian oil firm,” he alleged.
The leak emanated from Conoils’s facility known as ‘Aunty Julie platform’ within Oil Mining Lease 59, at Otuo Oil field, NAN learnt.
In Rivers, the State Ministry of Environment has urged the Federal Government to increase efforts in protecting crude oil pipeline’ right of way to check activities of vandals and also curb oil spillage in the state.
Mr Charles George, Head of Department, Inspectorate and Enforcement in the Ministry, told NAN in Port Harcourt that the call was necessary since the oil and gas sector is exclusively regulated by the Federal Government.
Accordingly to George, all the 23 local governments areas in River are either oil producing or hosts to oil facilities which makes all of them experience some level of oil spillage.
He however, noted that the level and extent of oil spillage related pollution is more in the coastal and riverine communities.
The environment expert also attributed oil spillage to equipment failure, operational error and sabotage, or third party interference.
“The impact of oil spillage is more in the aquatic environment because the river sediment has the bio-accumulation and bio-availability capacities.
“These make them remain polluted for several years as there are usually no remedial measures for cleanup of affected pollution sites,’’ he said.
George also revealed that all flow stations in the state still flare gas on daily basis.
He however, added that the ministry had been enlightening the public on the negative impacts of pollution to humans, animals and the environment.
“We are also enlightening the public on the need to shun crude oil theft and also the need to protect pipeline’ right of way.
“The fact is that the oil industry is the major contributor to the Nigerian economy and the Federal Government is somehow lukewarm towards effective enforcement of standards for oil companies,” George alleged.
He said the state government had laws in place against environmental pollution by vehicles plying the roads.
“Part IV, Section 18, subsections 1a-d, section 20 subsections 2d, 3 and 4 of the state ‘Green Book’ are laws on vehicle pollution,” George said.
Similarly, Mr Fegalo Nsuke, President, Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), also confirmed that gas flaring had remained a major cause of air pollution in the Niger Delta region.
Mr Tammy Nkoti, a sewage waste manager said that there were effective laws by the state against the menace of open defecation and urinating.
Nkoti noted that the level of compliance to these laws was considerably high in Rivers State. (NAN)
Environment
Prolonged Public Holidays Come with Negative Economic Effects on Citizens – Anambra Residents
Anambra residents have slammed the additional day approved by the Federal Government for the Muslim faithful to celebrate the 2024 Eid-Ei-Fitr, saying this will have negative effects on the economy.
The Federal government had early declared April 9 and 10 as Muslim-Ummah for the successful completion of a month’s spiritual rejuvenation.
Reports says that residents of Anambra capital city believe that the additional day which they did not plan for will result in economic hardship to the citizenry.
Most respondents believe that people had planned to resume their economic activities instead of wasting their time staying at home doing nothing..
Former Chairman, Awka Chamber of Commerce, Chief Felly Akosa, described the additional day to the two days approved earlier as “unfair to the economy of the country as people were unprepared for the additional day.
Akosa said that although it is right for the Muslim faithful to celebrate their holiday after a month-long fasting, the process needs to be carefully planned for in place of the additional rest day which could inhibit business activities.
Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, National Vice President of Igbo Apex Social Cultural body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said the policy would cause huge economic waste as businesses are put on hold,
He advised that, in future, a proper and well planned programme needs to be in place before declaring a public holiday for any celebration that will be national.
“Our economy and other sectors are not very healthy,” and it would, therefore be appropriate to plan well to avoid declarations that will hamper the citizens’ welfare.
Mazi Christian Beluchukwu, a business man in Awka, described the extension of the Eid-El-Fitr public holiday to Thursday, April 11, as an added hardship for the citizenry.
Beluchukwu said that any public holiday for three days, April 9 to 11, to celebrate any feast in the country is an economic loss to the nation.
He said that it was best to stick to the two-day national public holidays as this gives room for the people to plan their activities very well.
He stated that his wife went to a public hospital on Tuesday and was unattended to because there was no doctor on seat to provide medical attention.
“She resorted to visiting a private hospital which cost extra money which the public hospital is expected to handle at a reasonable cost. (NAN)
The Jos Water Services Corporation (JWSC) has said that the World Bank fund received would be used to boost water supply to Bukuru and environs in Jos South Local Government Area.
Mr Apollos Samchi, the Managing Director of the corporation, said that N1.7 billion would be expended on the rehabilitation of water treatment plant, over head steel tank and laying of pipes to homes of consumers.
Samchi, who disclosed this on Friday in Jos, during a two-day capacity building workshop, said that the projects were expected to be completed in four months.
Reports says that the workshop organised for contractors has at its theme: “Implementation of Environmental and Social Management Plans for Projects in Jos South.
The MD said that the projects would ensure steady provision of potable water to residents in Gyel and Kurgiya in Jos South Local Government Area.
He said the treatment plant when rehabilitated would pump out 5,000 cubic litres of water daily.
The MD further stated that the reticulation exercise would cover residents who weren’t initially connected to public water supply in the area.
Samchi said that the essence of the workshop was to ensure that the contractors were trained to develop adequate measures and controls to minimise and mitigate potential environmental and social risks that could adversely affect the project implementation.
He called on all the contractors handling the projects to ensure that they adhered to the environmental and safety standards and deliver within the specified timeframe.
In his remarks, Mr Jonathan Malann, the Plateau Project Coordinator, Sustainable Urban, Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene programme (SURWASH), also advised contractors to adhere to the environmental and safety standards as provided by the World Bank.
The Federal Government had received $700m financing from the World Bank to ensure that all its people have access to sustainable and safely managed WASH services.
The seven participating states are Plateau, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Katsina, and Kaduna.(NAN)
The Gombe State Executive Council (SEC) has approved payment of N389 million as compensation for residents that would be affected by the gully erosion control project at Federal College of Education (FCE) Technical and its surrounding communities.
The Commissioner for Finance, Gombe State, Malam Mohammed Magaji, stated this at the end of the SEC meeting on Friday in Gombe.
Magaji said the payment, which would commence immediately, would be for individuals and organisations along the gully erosion site.
He said almost 1000 persons were expected to benefit from the gesture.
According to him, the compensation is part of the requirements of the World Bank, which specifies that such payments be made to property owners.
Magaji said the payment would also be made to ensure seamless resettlement of affected persons.
“The beneficiaries are in hundreds, almost a 1,000 people; there is compensation for houses, and also for business premises.
“There is also stipends for the elderly living around that area so that they are able to have good livelihood,” he said.
The commissioner for Education, Hajiya Aishatu Maigari, also said the SEC approved upgrade of the five mega senior secondary schools in the state to sustain improvement in the education sector.
Maigari said the upgrade would be carried out based on the needs of each of the schools.
She stated that infrastructure in some of the schools were already being upgraded to global standards.
“We have seen construction of toilets, installation of solar-powered light, construction of roads, school clinics, boreholes and many more,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government had on Nov. 23 signed a N12 billion contract with Triacta Nigeria Ltd. for a 21-kilometre gully erosion control work in six communities within Gombe metropolis.
The project is under ACRESAL project, a World Bank-assisted project to address the challenges of land degradation and climate change in northern Nigeria. (NAN)
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