Dickson: Oil Multinationals  Must Respect Laws in N’Delta

By Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa

Governor

Dickson: Oil Multinationals 

Must Respect Laws in N’Delta

of Bayelsa State yesterday flayed oil companies operating in the Niger Delta , insisting that they must make a commitment to obeying environmental laws in the region. 

Dickson who spoke when he met with the management of the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) led by the Managing Director, Insula Massimo, in Yenagoa, noted that the multinationals had not done enough for the region. 

Specifically the governor charged them to respect environment laws,  pay their fair share of taxes and show a higher commitment to their Corporate Socio-Responsibility. 

He urged them to turn a new leaf and improve on building confidence in the areas they operate. 

“The government and the people of the state do not believe that you and your company (Agip) have been very good partners. You have not been.

 “But we believe that with the new engagement, working together in sincerity and in commitment to our shared mutual values even the sky is not our limit. 

“Bayelsa is interested in you and all our partners to ensure you have a smooth operation. We want you to operate smoothly, to operate without any hindrance in the state. 

“We want you to maximize your activities because it is when you are profitable and successful that our state can have increased revenue”, the governor said. 

He asked the company to contribute its quota to the local economy by having a respectable presence in the state capital, saying his government was willing to provide a land to enable them build a befitting corporate office and residential area. 

” I know you have a functional office in Brass that is contributing to the local economy there, but what we want also is for you to erect a structure here in Yenagoa and we are going to provide you with a land for that. You are not requesting, we are offering you”, he added. 

On the issue of Modular Refineries, Dickson tasked the company to show interest in locating one in the state which will help create more jobs, discourage local refining of crude oil and illegal oil exploration by youths. 

While lauding the team for the visit, the governor said the company had shown interest in the Eco-Industrial Park the government is embarking on, noting that their technical support will help the project come to fruition. 

He assured NAOC that its planned Zabazaba project in Bayelsa will receive the support of the government so it can be completed in a record time . 

In his comments, Mr. Massimo noted that the company was having a seamless operation in all their flow stations across the state, an indication that the security measures of the government were yielding positive results. 

” I want to thank and appreciate you for all the support you have granted to our operations here in Bayelsa. The security challenges we experienced years ago are now a thing of the past. We now have minimal security concerns because of what you deployed to checkmate the situation and our operations are growing”, he said.

 

Massimo said the visit was follow-up to previous meetings with the governor ‎which were aimed at implementing and fast-tracking big ticket projects in the state.