Business
FG Plans To Build Refineries In Indonesia, TUC Alleges
The Rivers State council of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, has alerted on alleged plan by the Federal Government to finance the construction of three oil refineries in Indonesia.
In a statement in Port Harcourt, yesterday, the Rivers State TUC chairman, Comrade Chika Onuegbu, said the discovery was coming at a time Nigeria still imports most of her refined petroleum products since its four refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna were operating below 40 per cent production capacity.
Quoting the Jakarta Post with the headline, ‘Nigeria to Invest RP 24tr in Indonesia refinery deal,” the TUC boss alleged that Nigeria was planning to build three oil refineries in Indonesia at a cost of $2.68trillion.
The Indonesian Industry Ministry’s Director-General for Manufacturing, Panggah Susanto was quoted as saying that both countries, Nigeria and Indonesia had agreed to build the refineries in the Asian country of Indonesia.
Given the startling revelation by the Indonesian newspaper, Comrade Onuegbu challenged Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Deziani Allison-Madueke, her counterpart in the Information and Communications Ministry, Labaran Maku and the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to confirm the veracity of the Jakarta Post publication..
TUC’s request for clarification, Comrade Onuegbu said was necessary in the wake of the Federal Government ‘s proposal to remove fuel subsidy come January 2012 with attendant hardship on Nigerians.
While controversy is trailing the planned FG’s removal of fuel subsidy by January 2012, analysts believe that it is politically motivated, as it was not expedient for the nation to go into partnership with Indonesia in the building of three refineries outside Nigeria when its four refining plants are not economically viable to meet the petroleum needs of the citizens.
In his nationwide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 51st Independence Anniversary celebration, President Goodluck Jonathan said government was planning to build three new refining plants.
Though, he did not give details of where the refineries would be sited, The Tide, learnt that Rivers, Bayelsa and Ondo States are penciled down as possible sites for the new refineries.
Already, government has concluded plans to build three additional petrol-chemical plants in parts of the country to complement the operations of the Eleme Petrochemical Ltd now renamed EPLC Indoroma Company.