Host Communities Shut Flow Station In Delta

The Erhoike flow sta
tion located within the OML 30 operation area in Delta State which belongs to the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC has been shut-down by youth from the host community.
The Tide gathered that indigenes from the eleven Orogun host communities had earlier threatened to disrupt operations of the company in their  area if their demands for patronage and community development projects were not met within fourteen days.
Among the issues raised by the communities were payment of the arrears of rentals and leases owed by Shell Petroleum  Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) before and after divestment of the oil field, remediation of their environment and refrain from further degradation,  tarring of all roads within the communities where NPDC operates.
Other conditions were stable electricity, investing of 5% of oil production in community development, 25% equity shares being ceded to other communities, 80% skilled workers and 100% unskilled workers vacancies to be filled by community applicant.
They also demanded that all contracts below N1bn to be reserved for indigenous contractors of host communities, who must also be given first right of refusal amongst other conditions.
But a statement from NNPC said most of the demands have been addressed by the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU) which had been negotiated with the OML 30 host communities.
“The draft of the GMOU is at the last stage of ratification as NPDC plans to discuss it with the Governor of Delta State after which a date will be fixed for the signing ceremony”, said the statement.
According to the statement, “We also wish to state that a scheduled inspection visit to the communities by the management of NPDC to verify the complaints about the deplorable state of the roads and identify which of the roads needed immediate intervention was scuttled by the youth in the communities who chased away NPDC officials who went for the inspection.”
The release appealed for co-opeation from the communities for peaceful business environment.