- Residents Want Farms Leave in Five Years
By Aaron Ukodie
The Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) told residents of Satellite Town, Navy Town and Ijegun-Egba that there is nothing that can be done to reverse ‘whatever mistakes’ in the location of the 13 tank farms located in the areas.
The government position came amidst demands by residents that the tank farms relocate from the area within five years.
The government position was re-echoed by officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the owners of the tank farms. They spoke today, at the federal palace hotel, Lagos, where stakeholders met to discuss solutions to the location of the tank farms in the areas.
Mr Olumide Omotosho represented the Managing Director of NPA, while Alhaji Mumuni, Chief Executive Officer of A.A. Rano, represented the farm owners. The managing director of Safas Construction, Major-General Agboola (rtd), stood for the Nigerian engineering unit.
DPR deputy director, representative of the director of the department, Mr Wole Akinyosoye, who presented the position of government, said it has become impossible for the about N1 trillion worth of infrastructure, already invested in the area, to be removed, as the action would be dangerous to the Nigerian economy. According to him the area has become a hub in the distribution of petroleum products in the country.
When eWorld asked Akinyosoye if the environment impact assessment (EIA) study carried out before the decision to locate the tank farms followed international standards, the DPR representative wondered what international standards was being referred to.
International standards require that tank farms should not be located in heavy residential areas, because of the environmental and safety hazards to the environment and residents.
Residents of the area, in Oriade Local Development Authority (OLCDA), have had harrowing and fatal experiences as a result of the location of the tank farms some seven years ago.
The government officials told the residents, who looked helpless, that what should be considered now, is how to mitigate possible dangers, threats and sufferings of the people.
They announced that the tank farms owners have contributed N500 million to carry out a drainage and there are plans to embark on the dualisation of the Marwa Road, the only major road the tanks drive through to carry out their activities.
A contract, they said has been awarded, to the Army Engineering unit, to carry out the construction of a drainage system from one end of the Marwa road to the carnal, where the road terminates. Safas Construction would handle the project on behalf of the army.
They also said there were plans to construct an alternative route, to take some load from the Marwa road, were over 200 hundred tankers drive through daily.
Akinyosoye, who chaired the event, gave roadmap on what should be done to ameliorate the challenges the tank farms pose to the area. According to him, the farm owners should begin to put in place safety monitors, teach and empower residents on how to respond to accidents, when they occur.
A standard fire service station should be built in the area and a hospital that could handle various degrees of burns that could arise from fire accidents, be established.
Because, no timeline and schedule was given, at the meeting, for the realization of the various initiatives the farm owners promised to carry out, Akinsoyoye suggested the need to draw up projects actualization schedule and timeline.
To this end, it was agreed that a joint committee should be set up to achieve the enumerated goals.
Though the DPR promised that no new tank farm project would be approved for location in the area, residents have given the tank farm owners five years to relocate their businesses to an appropriate location. They also demand that before the expiration of the five-year period the tank farmers should carry out certain projects to ameliorate the sufferings of the residents.
One of the residents’ umbrella body, the Satellite Forum, told the gathering that government should not allow the two new tank farms which are finalizing bids to join the existing numbers to do so, thereby further choking the communities with tanks. The two tank farms are YTK Petroleum and North West Petroleum.
They also demanded that government should not allow the citing of gas farms in the areas, a move that would further compound existing woes. Promanade Nigeria Limited, is planning to locate a gas farm in Satellite Town that would generate 500 tanker activity per day.
The forum also asked that the Clarion Limited, which runs a container terminal in Alakija, be relocated.
President of the Forum, Governor Michael Imitini, said the two gas companies were threatening residents, saying that government had approved their requests and some buildings in the area would be pulled down to pave way for their business.
The Forum which is asking for the relocation of the tank farms gave four reasons for their demand, saying that it was unacceptable for about 2000 tankers and trailers to coexist in a fully-built residential area that has poor and frail infrastructure.
He said there was need to correct the administrative blunder in approving the location of the tank farms in such a densely populated area, in a 21st century mega city of Lagos, in violation of national and international best practice.
Imitimi, also argued that the Satellite Town and Ijegun Egba areas have vast coastal land area, most of which is sparsely populated, and given that the area is not a port, but a strict residential area that lacks super road network and other compelling infrastructure to carry the heavy axle vehicles.
The communities, he said, have already been fully built up, with markets, businesses, schools, health facilities, worship centers and about 60 well-developed living estates, excluding major streets and closes.
