Business

Belemaoil Trains 33 Fire Fighters …Acquires State-Of-The-Art Fire Fighting Equipment

Published

6 years ago

June 13, 2018

In a bid to reduce the effect of fire disaster and safeguard lives and property in Rivers State, indigenous oil giant, Belemaoil Producing Ltd has acquired a state-of-the-art fire fighting facility. This is as the company trained and certified 30 personnel, drawn from its host communities on various fire fighting skills to render rescue services to the public.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the fire fighters at the company’s corporate headquarters in Port Harcourt the Executive Vice President, Admin/HR/Corporate Affairs, Belemaoil Producing Ltd, Mrs Rosemary C. Asiegbu, stated that the company was the first indigenous oil company that was ensuring the full implementation of its HSE campaign.
She said with the successive conclusion of the training and the setting up of the world-class fire fighting facility, Belemaoil was set to support efforts by the government in combating fire outbreak in the state.
Asiegbu said the initiative was part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility to the people of the state where it operates.
She said: “We are an indigenous company. If you check out, we are the first indigenous oil company that is going head on to ensuring that we implement our HSE not only to make sure that our immediate environment and our staff are safe, we are ensuring that our neighbouring environment, beyond our immediate environment will also benefit from our strives.
“What informed this, is our social responsibility and our HR Drive and HSE campaign. We wanted to step up our HSE campaign to make sure that our environment will be safe. Just as our Belemaoil Model is inclusive of the host communities in making sure that their social and economic wellbeing will be improved. If you check all our environs, there is no firefighting equipment around, even beyond up to the Government House. And our President in his vision makes sure that everybody will be happy and benefit from what they should.”
The EVP, who congratulated the Founder/President of Belemaoil Producing Ltd, Mr Jack-Rich Tein Jr., for his strive in developing host communities, she pointed out that fire fighting is a noble profession though challenging. She said the training will be a continuous process to ensure that the trainees acquire more skills in fire fighting and rescue.
She advised the fire fighters, saying, “ Fire fighting is a serious job, serious because you will always be prepared. You will always be expected to train and be fit all the time. If you are on duty or you are not on duty you are supposed to be prepared because something might come up and the people on duty, might not be able to cope with it. Automatically, you will be drafted to be in charge.
“Again, to be a fire fighter is a multi-faceted job in the sense that your job will not just concentrate on saving the human and material assets. Fighters, are bold, fire fighters must have the sanity when it comes to taking decisions because if you are not careful on the decision you take, that might even cause more disaster. So fire fighters are looked upon as potential heroes because they are supposed to do what normal people are not supposed to do under normal circumstances.”
In his closing remarks, the Director, Production and Engineering, Belemaoil Producing Ltd, Mr. Mufaa Welsh, described the event as successful. He pointed out that the training is a show of confidence and the love that the Founder/President of Belemaoil, Mr. Jackrich Tein Jr. has for the people.
He said the training will be a continuous process for the fire fighters even when they are on the job, adding that they were being trained by TDI, a company from the United States of America.
Speaking earlier during the demonstration of skills by the graduands, the Chief Fire Trainer, Gary Eve said the graduands had been adequately trained and certified to provide rescue and fire fighting services
He said they were trained in the area of fire attack skills, changing hose pattern, among others. He informed that all the graduands have acquired basic fire fighting skills and are certified to be deployed to undertake such task.
Some of the trained fire fighters expressed gratitude to the Founder and President of Belemaoil Producing Ltd, Jack-Rich Tein Jur for empowering them to save life and property in the state.
One of the graduands, Gibson Okuroma, in his vote of thanks said “I never dreamt of it and no member of my crew dreamt of it. Other multinationals never go down to the grassroots to ask persons who have not dreamt of been in the city or being a fire fighter to come out and be trained. I thank Belemaoil for going to the local communities to pick people to give them a noble profession”, he stated.
Highpoint of the event was the presentation of certificates to the graduands for successfully completing one month training on fire fighting and rescue skills.

Business

Fuel Scarcity: IPMAN threatens shutdown over bridging claims

Published

3 days ago

May 3, 2024

The Tide

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Depot Chairmen Forum, has exonerated its members from the current fuel scarcity in the country.

According to IPMAN, this is caused by its inability to source petroleum products.

The IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum also threatened to withdraw its services over non-payment of N200 billion bridging claims by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to its members, since 2022.

Alhaji Yahaya Alhassan, the Chairman, of the Forum said this while briefing newsmen in Abuja, yesterday.

Alhassan said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) was the sole importer of the product, but the marketers could not source products from NNPC Ltd. deport, rather from the private depots at high rate.

“We cannot buy fuel from the private depots at N950 and transport the product from Lagos to the North and other parts of the country with N2 million and still sell it at N900 or N1, 000.

“It is expedient for us to state that we are more pained by the non-availability of petroleum products in the country, which has given rise to another round of untold hardship for Nigerians.

“Contrary to claims that IPMAN members are hoarding Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as fuel, we would like to categorically state that PMS scarcity is wholly triggered by inability to get fuel from NNPC and not IPMAN,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the NNPC Ltd. Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye said the disruption was due to logistical issues which had since been resolved.

“We currently have an availability of products exceeding 1.5 billion litres, which can last for at least 30 days. Unfortunately, we experienced a three-day disruption in distribution due to logistical issues, which has since been resolved.

“However, as you know, overcoming such disruptions typically requires double the amount of time to return to normal operations.

“Some folks are taking advantage of this situation to maximise profits. Thankfully, product scarcity has been minimal lately, but these folks might be exploiting the situation for unwarranted gain,’’ Soneye said.

He however, said the lines would clear out soon.

On the non-payment of bridging claims, the IPMAN forum said it was distressed and depressed by the laidback attitude of the NMDPRA towards the survival its member’s businesses, arising from its refusal in paying the claims.

“It is with deep frustration that we have assembled here today as the IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum. It is also disheartening to note that some of our members have completely shut down businesses and retrenched employees.

“As businessmen and women, our members acquired bank loans to keep their fuel retail outlets running on a daily basis across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria in order to serve the teeming population of Nigerians,’’ Alhassan said.

He recalled that Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), at a stakeholders meeting in February mandated the NMDPRA management to clear the entire debt in 40 days.

“However, today, we have crossed the 40 days’ time lapse given to the NMDPRA to clear the debt, and it is shameful to state that only the paltry sum of N13 billion has been paid, ignoring minister’s directive.

“We are not happy with the indiscriminate increment in the issuance and renewal of Sales and Storage Licence, by the NMDPRA, and the subsequent delays in acquiring the licence, which our members are recently subjected to.

“We are also calling on President Bola Tinubu to look into this unwholesome figure which is highly detrimental to our business and reverse it forthwith, as it is bound to impact negatively on the masses.

“We are poised to take far reaching decisions that may cripple the supply and sales of petroleum products across Nigeria if our demands are not met within the shortest period of time.

“We are collectively prepared to withdraw our services, shut down every single outlet, and suspend lifting of products forthwith till our demands are fully met, and the consequences will be terrible.

“We call on our members to however remain resolute and law abiding, even as we draw close to the immediate ultimatum for our demands to be met by the NMDPRA,’’ the chairman said.

Reacting to the IPMAN’s claims, the Acting Head, Corporate Communications, NMDPRA, Seiyefa Osanebi said the bridging claims payment was ongoing.

“The bridging claims payment is always an ongoing process,” she said.

Maritime

Shippers’ Council Registers 160 Port Operators

Published

7 days ago

April 29, 2024

The Tide

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) says it has registered 160 Port stakeholders into its Regulated Port Service Provider and Users platform since the initiative began in 2023.
Executive Secretary, NSC, Mr Pius Akutah, made the disclosure on the sideline of a sensitisation programme by the commission for port operators in Lagos, with the theme, “Regulated Port Service Provider and Users”.
Represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs, Chief Cajetan Agu, Akutah emphasised the significance of the programme for stakeholders.
He said the sensitisation programme was the second edition after its commencement during the last quarter of 2023.
The Secretary said the 160 registered port operators consist of agencies, terminal operators, shipping companies, individual port users as well as service providers.
“We invited the ports stakeholders for enlightening them on the processes for online registration of Regulated Port Service Provider and Users.
“We have demonstrated to them how to register and how to make payment and we were able to present before them the various categories of the registration.
“The rate of payment is also in the registration. The payment of each group depends on the operation. A shipper pays N30,000, terminal operators and shipping companies pay N300,000, truckers also pay N30,000, while some pay N50,000 and N100,000.
“The Council was able to intimate them on the benefits, because port users benefit more as we help to interface on reducing port charges from time to time”, Akutah said.
He said that there was a need to continue to work with port operators to stop delays and eliminate high costs to make the port efficient.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director, Stakeholders, Service, NSC, Mr Celestine Akujobi, said “the sensitisation exercise was important for the council to enable us bring all the port stakeholders together”.
According to him, this is to avoid challenges during the implementation of the council’s responsibilities.
“By the time we introduce sanctions on defaulters, no operators will complain that he or she is not aware of the registration.
“I’m happy with the turnout of this sensitisation. This shows that the operators are well informed of the statutory friction of the council as the port regulator.
“The final implementation will commence as soon as we discover that all the operators have keyed into the portal.
“We are engaging other ports across the country and we’re hopeful that before the last quater of 2024, the council will implement sanctions on defaulting operators”, Akujobi said.
Earlier, Vice Chairman, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwards (NAGAFF), Dr Ifeanyi Emoh, said port challenges were enormous, adding that they originated from some of the government agencies.

Emoh urged the council to look into regulating other government agencies, so that there could be a window through which they can collect port charges collectively instead of indiscriminately.

By: Chinedu Wosu