THE Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology has threatened to order the shut down of any oil facility found to be the cause of an oil spill.

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, gave the warning through a statement issued by his aide on Media and Advocacy, Bamikole Omosore, in Ilorin on Thursday, over two environmental disasters recorded in the country in the past few days.

The first was the reported oil spill along the coastline of Ibeno in Akwa Ibom State, and the destructive flood, which swept through six Local Government Areas of Plateau State, leaving 33 people dead, thousands homeless and the entire South of Plateau inaccessible.

“We must state that it is quite disheartening that a spill of this nature occurs in this country and the responsible company refuses to own up to its liabilities. This lackadaisical attitude towards oil spills must be strongly discouraged by both our regulatory agencies and our laws.

“This is one reason, among others, this committee since inception, has continued to work with stakeholders in the environment and oil industry to find a lasting solution to this menace. Just as we have observed in other countries, the Chief Executive of responsible Oil operating company(s) should be held responsible.

“The Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology totally rejects the casual approach and inconclusive strategy being used by responsible stakeholders whenever there’s an oil spill. We have found out that suspected oil operating companies easily make reference to oil finger printing procedure to determine the responsible oil operating company which never produces any conclusive report,” he said.

Saraki also said that the issue of oil spillage had, again, pushed to the forefront, the need for effective regulatory measures to ensure that oil practices in the country were done according to international best practices.

Comments (0)

Show/hide comments

Show/hide comment form

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment