‘Bayelsa Refinery ‘ll Create 7,000 jobs’

The Federal Government’s refinery project to be sited in Bayelsa is expected to generate 5,000 jobs, Mr Billy Agha, the Group Executive Director, NNPC, has announced.

He made the announcement last Thursday in Yenagoa when he led the management team of the project, Greenfield Refinery and Petroleum Plants, on a courtesy visit to Gov. Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa.

Agha said that apart from the financial returns on investment to the state, the project was expected to create jobs for 5,000 construction workers and an estimated 2,000 others who would run the industrial complex.

Agha said NNPC was undergoing a major transformation aimed at re-establishing it as a fully commercialised, market-oriented and profit driven enterprise.

He explained that the team was in the state to inspect possible sites suitable for the location of the refinery project.

Responding, Sylva urged the NNPC management to expedite action on the take-off of the refinery project, proposed by the Federal Government, to be sited in the state.

He expressed the hope that the foundation stone of the project would be laid before the end of the year, describing it as a promising development, in view of the fact that the state was in dire need of investments to stimulate its economy.

Sylva also noted that the new refinery, when completed, would create jobs for the state’s teeming unemployed youth, “especially at this time when it is grappling with the challenges of the post amnesty programme”.

He reiterated government’s support and willingness to participate in the refinery project.

The governor approved the donation of land on the request of the management, for the construction of an industrial park for the refinery, and thanked the Federal Government for choosing Bayelsa as one of the sites.

A five-member committee to be chaired by the Bayelsa Commissioner for Energy, Mr Maxwell Oko, was set up to work with the Bayelsa Refinery Committee from NNPC to facilitate the implementation of the project.

The refinery, when completed, is expected to produce 500 tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas per annum.