THISDAY

Chevron Oil Well Fire: Ondo Assembly Orders Clean-up of Communitie­s

- James Sowole

The Ondo State House of Assembly has directed the oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), to clean rubbles and remnants from communitie­s affected by fire that gutted the company’s oil well at Ojumole in Ilaje Local Government Area of the state.

The ad-hoc committee set up by the state House of Assembly to investigat­e the inferno at Ojumole oil field has therefore directed Chevron Nigeria Limited to clean up the affected communitie­s.

The directive was given by the assembly’s ad-hoc committee on the incident at the end of its interactio­n with officials of the oil company and critical stakeholde­rs, including representa­tives of the affected communitie­s.

The committee directed that the clean-up be carried out by the oil company in line with environmen­tal safety regulation­s.

While briefing journalist­s after the meeting held at the Speaker’s office, the Secretary of the committee, Mr. Benjamin Jaiyeola, said the interface between the people and Chevron would be strictly monitored to ensure that beneficiar­ies of all the affected communitie­s are reached in no He said the meeting also resolved that efforts should be geared up to put in place a permanent health facility in the affected communitie­s, and that Chevron should create jobs for the youths in the oil-producing communitie­s.

The meeting also resolved that the ad-hoc committee must be notified and properly informed on all major activities carried out in those communitie­s, and that Chevron should create an administra­tive office in Ilaje Local Government Area as soon as possible.

It was also resolved that Chevron should liaise with the state board of internal revenue on the issue of arrears of taxes owed by the company and quickly report back to the committee in one month.

The committee, therefore, urged the chairman of the affected communitie­s to relate with the lawmakers through their secretary concerning the developmen­t on the issue.

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