NGO Trains NOSDRA, Bayelsa Officials on Effects of Gases

ANon-governmental organisation, Stakeholders Alliance for Corporate Accountability (SACA) has ended a three-day training programme on the effects of gases for officials of the National oil spill detection and Response Agency(NOSDRA) and the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment.

THEWILL learnt that the programme, funded by Misean Cara of Ireland and St Patrick’s Mission, was a fallout of SACA’s avowed collaboration with government and other stakeholders towards ensuring a safe, healthy and gas-related hazards free environment for field workers in both public and private establishments.

Speaking with journalists shortly after the event, the Executive Director of SACA, Mr Kingsley Ozegbe, described the training as auspicious, adding that the essence of the programme was to learn and train the participants and the general public, as well as to continue to create public awareness of the dangers inherent in gases, including how even the ones considered to be harmless could become hazardous to human life and the environment when not properly used or handled.

“Today, through this training, the participants have also learnt that even gases considered to be non-hazardous could pose hazards. We call on the multinational companies, government and all operators in the public and private sectors to be cautious in their handling and regulating of the oil and gas sector. But, even as citizens, we must also be careful when it comes to doing our jobs because we want to carry out these jobs without exposure to the hazards of gas. “Already SACA has acquired a device that will help us to monitor the quality of the air and gases in our environment. It is called aeroqual gas monitor,” Ozegbe added.