By Leke Baiyewu
At an investigative hearing organised by an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives in Abuja on Wednesday, the residents and tank farm owners strongly differed on the location of petroleum depots in the communities.
The House of Representatives has resolved to send a delegation to Ijegun, Kirikiri and Satellite Town areas of Lagos State to assess the level of danger posed by petroleum tank farms to residents of the communities.
The residents demanded the relocation of the tank farms in the area, saying they posed threat to lives and property.
The Chairman of the Satellite Town Forum, Mr Michael Imitimi, said Satellite Town remained a residential area and that the primary responsibility of government was to protect lives and property.
Imitimi noted that it had been a residential area since 1976 and that it was earmarked and gazetted in 1975 to usher in former President Shehu Shagari’s administration.
He said, “In 2012, we started seeing the invasion of tank farm activities in the community and that has caused us a lot of problems. We have other eight villages across the water and we just have one seven-metre road that leads to the tank farm and the community.
“Trucks come in hundreds and in chains and we can remember the fire incident in Onitsha; only one truck had multiplied effects and people died. These trucks are ranging from 33,000 to 78,000 metric tonnes. The issue before us is this; who has given this approval in a residential area?
“The last incident that happened claimed lives; it is a very bad situation and we will not accept it. It is our duty to live and when injustice becomes the law, then resistance becomes inevitable. These tank farms must be relocated.”
However, the Chairman of the Ijegun-Egba Tank Farm Owners and Operators Association, Mr Adebowale Olujimi, argued that his members contributed to the economy by way of revenue through taxes, levies and charges to the federal, state and local governments, where the storage facilities were located.
He also stated that the tank farms at ljegun and Satellite Town in Lagos played pivotal parts in petroleum distribution in Nigeria, accounting for over 25 per cent national petroleum product distribution, with a combined storage capacity of over 600 million litres.
According to him, over 40 per cent of petroleum products to the northern part of the country comes from the ljegun tank farms.
Olujimi said, “A relocation of tank farms from Ijegun will be a great shock to both the investors and financiers.
“Considering the enormous and huge cost of tank farms construction, and having a collective investment asset of over N2tn, are we to forfeit these assets to rebuild another one in a another environment?”
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Sergius Ogun, said the House was out to ensure safety of lives and property in the area.
“The tank farm owners got approvals and you people who are residents, the Town Planning (Authority) also approved your houses that are there. The tank farm owners pay tax, not to a spirit, but to the government. But we cannot shave the head of the Lagos State Government in its absence. That is why the recommendation is that we are going to Lagos and meet with all stakeholders,” he added.
Comments
Post a Comment
Drop your comments. Thank you