The Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, yesterday inaugurated a $30million world-class Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Plant built by Indorama Group at Eleme Petrochemicals Limited, in Eleme, near Port Harcourt.

While commissioning the 86,000 tonnes per year largest PET Plant in Sub-Sahara Africa, Amaechi insisted that only industrialisation and job creation would stem the tide of crime in the country.

The governor, who commended Indorama for the prompt completion of the new PET Plant, few months after it announced an investment portfolio of $2billion for PET, fertiliser and methanol projects in the next five years, said the projects would go a long way in helping the country realise its vision 2020 goals.

According to him, “key to us as a government is expansion of the state’s economic base, and the fact that Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals will create new employment opportunities for our people. We believe that as more industries spring up in the state, we will be able to reduce the crime rate, and once you create employment opportunities, you put those opportunities in the hands of Rivers people”.

He advised Eleme people not to take any action that could frustrate smooth operations of the petrochemicals company, warning that the law to deal with anyone who disturbs the operations of any company would be invoked on trouble makers in any part of the state.

Amaechi commended Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals for discharging its corporate social responsibilities to its host community, and urged the management to continue in that spirit.

Speaking, Group Managing Director of Indorama Corporation, Amit Lohia said the new PET Plant has capacity for producing 86,000 metric tonnes of PET resins per annum, adding that Indorama’s dream was to turn Nigeria into a net exporter of PET resins.

Lohia stated that for now, Nigeria imports 100 per cent of its local demand for PET resins, and pledged that very soon, Indorama’s PET production would cover all local demand and exports to neighbouring African countries.

“Our new PET Plant has capacity to help Nigeria to save a whopping $140million from import substitution,” stressing that polyethylene terephthalate, is raw materials highly needed by the plastics, foods, beverages, pharmaceuticals, breweries and allied industries.

According to him, application of PET is largely in bottles for table water, aerated water, fruit juices, drugs, beers, beverages, among others.

The Indorama group managing director noted that PET Plant was the second in Africa, the first, a 120,000 metric tonnes capacity plant located in South Africa, while the Indorama PET Plant is the first in Sub-Sahara Africa.

Lohia said Africa’s total demand for PET resins stood at 500,000 metric tonnes per annum, emphasising that even with Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals’ 86,000 metric tonnes per annum and South Africa’s 120,000 metric tonnes per annum, African continent still has growth potentials of over 300,000 metric tonnes of PET resins.

Managing Director, Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited, Manish Mundra, listed the success story of Indorama since it acquired the Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited in 2006 through the privatisation programme of the Federal Government, adding that “we are committed to our investments in Nigeria.”

Mundra said that Indorama was operating an excellent model of public private partnership in which case the petrochemicals company was now owned by core investor with 65 per cent stake, Federal Government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Bureau of Public Procurement (BPE) with 15 per cent, Rivers State Government with 10 per cent share, host community (7.5 per cent) and employees (2.5 per cent).

Also speaking, Chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Rivers State branch, Mrs Emilia Akpan, said the coming on stream of the Indorama PET Plant was a major boost to Nigeria’s quest for industrialisation.

Nelson Chukwudi