ADHERE STRICTLY TO MoU: Ekpotuayerin Charges Oil Companies, Host Communities

The Delta State House of Assembly Committee on Environment, Oil and Gas has stressed the need for oil companies operating in the state and their host communities to always adhere strictly to terms of agreement.

Speaking in Asaba, the Chairman of the Committee, Honourable Pullah Ekpotuayerin, identified non or partial implementation of Memoranda of Understanding entered into by the parties as a major cause of acrimony between the companies and their hosts.

Honourable Ekpotuayerin said there must be harmonious relationship between Oil companies and their host communities and promised that his committee would strive to ensure relative peace in oil bearing communities in the state.

The Lawmaker, who represents Burutu Constituency Two in the House, said the environment must be peaceful for oil exploration to thrive, stressing that the State House of Assembly would continue to partner with relevant stakeholders to promote peace and good governance in the state.

Acknowledging efforts by the Okowa administration to encourage the return of companies that relocated out of the state in the wake of the Warri crises, the Lawmaker said stakeholders must partner with government to succeed.

Honourable Ekpotuayerin maintained that oil remained the mainstay of the nation’s economy, stressing that it was the desire of government to make Delta the highest oil producing state in the country.

On the Environment, the Lawmaker decried the attitude of residents towards environmental sanitation and spoke on the need for the people to improve on their hygiene.

He attributed flooding in some communities in the state to the blocking of water channels, saying that it was wrong for people to build on water ways.

Honourable Ekpotuayerin, while sympathizing with victims of recent flooding in the state, appealed to residents to desist from throwing debris into the drains so as not to obstruct the free flow of water whenever it rained.

The Lawmaker said his Committee in its oversight function would investigate other causes of flooding in parts of the state with a view of proffering solution to the problem.