An elder statesman and activist in the Niger Delta, Chief Jasper Jumbo, has called on the Federal Government to use the gas flaring penalty fund collected from the oil multinationals to establish modular refineries in the region.
He explained that the gas flaring penalty fund is a statutory penalty imposed on the multinational oil companies for flaring gas.
He urged the Federal Government to release the fund and use part of it to establish modular refineries so as to create jobs for the youths and tackle restiveness in the region.
Jumbo who is the head of Jumbo majyor House in Grand Bonny, made the call while speaking to aviation correspondents at the Port Harcourt International Airport Omagwa, shortly on arrival from Abuja, recently.
“They (government) should release the gas flaring penalty fund and use part of it as counterpart funding to generate money to set up modular refineries.
“We are calling on the President to release the money and set up a committee that will use the money and help our people.
“They should use part of it to set up the modular refineries, alongside approved policy measures that will be put in place”, Jumbo said.
The activist, however, regretted that various governments in the region have not been able to establish or set up modular refineries to generate employment for their teeming youths.
“When I mean various governments, I am also including the NDDC, Local Content Authority and other agencies of Federal Government operating in the region.
“They need to synergize. They need to obtain loans to execute projects in the region, such that will tackle unemployment and guarantee development”, he said.
Chief Jumbo also urged the governments in the region to always carry elders of the region along who can boldly tell the Federal Government what they ought to do for the people of the region.

By: Corlins Walter