The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Work begins

  • Work begins on Bayelsa Oil & Gas Park project

    •NNPC, NCDMB partner on contracting cycle reduction

    Work has begun on the Nigerian Oil and Gas Park (NOGAP) at Emeyal-1, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel IbeKachikwu performed the ground-breaking at the weekend. The Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks are being developed by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and will be built in five oil producing states, with the Emeyal-1 project as the second to take-off.  A similar ground-breaking event was held early in March this year at Odukpani, Cross Rivers State. The other sites are located at Oguta in Imo State, Ikwe-Odio in Akwa Ibom State as well as Delta State.

    The parks, according to the NCDMB, will generate about 2000 jobs at full operation and create a regional low-cost manufacturing hub that will produce equipment components and spare parts to be used in the nation’s oil and gas industry.

    Speaking at Emeyal-1, the Minister said the Federal Government plans to develop similar projects in other parts of the country in order to extend the benefits to more Nigerians. He said: “We will work with the Board and provide everything that is needed for the projects. After the development of the five pilot parks in the Niger Delta states, we will extend this very innovative idea to other parts of Nigeria where oil has either been found or is being explored.”

    Kachikwu said the initiative will send a message to investors that Bayelsa State is ready for oil and gas business, adding that the park will bring about localisation of indigenous companies, where fabrication,  pipe milling, procurement hubs and oil and gas related technologies will flourish.

    The NCDMB Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote, confirmed that the “park occupies a land mass of about 25 hectares, which will comprise various warehouses, manufacturing shop floors and factories, training centre, hostels, administrative block, mini estate, security posts, fire station, including truck parking and holding areas”.

    The park, he said, will be provided with uninterrupted power supply to address the electricity challenge which often besets most Nigerian manufacturers and businesses.

    He described the ground-breaking as great step towards achieving one of the Board’s key mandates, adding that “this project will positively impact Bayelsa State in general and Emeyal community and its environs in particular. Citizens of the host community and environs will also benefit from on-the-job training opportunities.”

    The NCDM chief appealed to the host community to support and defend the project for it to be completed on schedule, warning that it will be relocated if it faces unreasonable demands and disruptions.

    Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Kemela Okara, commended NCDMB for siting one of the oil and gas parks in the state. He acknowledged that NCDMB had been a veritable partner of the state and had contributed to the growth and development of people of Bayelsa. He said the government was determined to industrialise the state and will support every effort designed to complement its efforts. “As a state, we will support the execution of this project and ensure that there is peaceful and conducive environment to aid the speedy completion as planned.”

    The Obanobhan III of Ogbia Kingdom, King Dumaro Charles-Owaba assured the Board that the community is peaceful and the project will not be disrupted. He solicited that more investments should be sited in the community to create employment for youths.

    Also, the NCDMB and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will before the end of 2018 start using a one-stop shop arrangement for reviewing and approving oil industry projects and contracts to shorten the industry’s contracting cycle.

    Kachikwu, who disclosed this at a meeting with top management of the NCDMB in Bayelsa State, explained that the collaborative approval process between NCDMB and NNPC will ensure that the target six-month contract approval cycle time is achieved, while the cost of crude oil production will also reduce.

    He said:“If you look at the cost components we are trying to drive down from $28 per barrel, it is now $23 and we are targeting $15. We can’t achieve that if our bureaucracy is slow.”

    The Minister commended the NCDMB for adopting the use of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with its key stakeholders, promising to ensure that other agencies within the Ministry of Petroleum Resources adopt the initiative, which will help to drive efficiency within organisations.

    Kachikwu praised the collaboration between NCDMB and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), particularly on the development of modular refineries, which would help to address the perennial shortage of petroleum resources, create jobs and minimise the scourge of illegal refining.

  • Work begins on Abuja Airport runway

    Repair work started yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

    A Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) official confirmed to The Nation that markings had been done on the runway to indicate that “it was closed”.

    “They are also doing a survey of the runway.The makings will indicate to air flyers that the runway is closed and they cannot land here.So, that is the beginning of the work,” the official added.

    Another official and FAAN’s International Terminal Manager Mrs. Hajara Musa said work started on Wednesday after the management handed over the runway to the contractors.

    However, passengers heading to Benin, Ibadan and other destination on various flights were screened at the Abuja airport before they were conveyed to Kaduna.

    As at the time The Nation visited the airport, FAAN officials were directing passengers to their buses.

    Before passengers gained access to the buses, they were made to fill their names, signature and the airline they were following in a register book, which was placed at the entry point of the airport.

    But the Kaduna International Airport was agog yesterday with activities.

    Five domestic carriers – Air Peace, DANA Air, Aero, Arik Air and Medview Airlines – operated flights from Lagos.

    The carriers operated their scheduled flights on the route following the closure of the Abuja Airport.

    Amid tight security, scores of passengers expressed excitement over the use of Kaduna Airport for the flights.

    As early as 8.00 am, flights from Lagos started landing at the Kaduna Airport.

    Apart from the  ground handling firm Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), aviation fuel suppliers – Conoil, So Aviation – and other ancillary services providers were on ground to facilitate smooth flight operations.

    Besides scheduled carriers, charter operators were also at Kaduna Airport to facilitate smooth operations.

    Airport security, aerodrome safety and fire-fighters were also at work to ensure smooth operations.

    The government secured an agreement with a private transport firm -Chisco Limited – with security escort patrol vehicles to convey passengers between Kaduna and Abuja as well as between Abuja and Kaduna.

    A source said most of the airlines recorded low passenger traffic out of Kaduna Airport into Lagos.

    While some passengers plied the buses provided by the government from Kaduna to Abuja, others were transported by bus provided by government from Kaduna Airport to the train station in Rigasa, a suburb along the Kaduna / Abuja Expressway, where the train terminal is located.

    Minister of State, Aviation Hadi Sirika was on hand in Kaduna to witness flight operations.

    But work is yet to be completed at the Kaduna Airport as workers of the construction firm were making last minute efforts to see the project to fruition.

    Investigations revealed that passenger profiling for international passengers were handled manually.

    Personnel of aviation agencies were sufficiently mobilised to ensure safety and security at the airport.

    Apart from a new toll gate plaza being completed at the entrance into the airport, the staff quarters for workers of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) were being renovated.

    From the Airport Road Junction on the expressway into the terminal, there was heavy security presence with members of the Nigerian Police Anti – Bomb Squad, Special Anti – Robbery Squad (SARS) mobilised at strategic locations.

    The Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (rtd), has given assurance of strict narcotic screening at the Kaduna Airport.

    This, according to him, will help in preventing illicit movement of narcotic drugs by drug cartels.

    Abdallah made the pledge following the interception of two suspected drug traffickers at Abuja Airport few hours to its closure on Wednesday.

    They were caught with 2.150-kilogramme of heroin from Tanzania and 386 grammes of cocaine en-route Cambodia.

    Preliminary investigation revealed that both suspects wanted to capitalise on the temporary relocation to Kaduna Airport in moving narcotics at the Abuja Airport, but the NDLEA promptly arrested them.

  • Work begins on Isheri-Magodo roads

    Work begins on Isheri-Magodo roads

    Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC) has commenced the construction of some major road networks at Isheri-Magodo in Kosofe Local Government area.
    LSPWC Chief Executive Officer Mr Ayotunde Sodeinde said that about eight road networks are being constructed within the Isheri-Magodo axis.
    They are Olanireti Fasan Street, Babajide Awolesi, Muyiwa Alder, Joseph Ajayi, Kunle Kitan, Gbolahan Akinmuda, Sylvester Close and Yetunde Jimi Ahisu lane.
    Sodeinde said: “this area is inhabited by those who have served their fatherland and as such must be taken good care of” adding that “virtually all the roads have been asphalted with about 50 Square Metre (sqm) left, hoping that in the next two weeks all the road projects will be completed”.
    Some of the retirees however expressed their deep appreciation to Lagos State Government for fixing the roads.
    Mrs. M.O. Ajaja said Governor Ambode has done well to have remembered the forgotten corners in the Isheri Community.
    She said before the roads were fixed, it was bumpy, messy and always flooded whenever it rains but right now, the roads are very smooth and has aided vehicular movement in the area.
    In another related development, an inspection was conducted on the on-going road rehabilitation project along Jankara market at Idumagbo Avenue where paving stones are being laid because of the soil texture as a result of high water table in the area.
    Sodeinde said the Idumagbo road project covers about 2,250sqm out of which 80 percent of the project has been completed while the remaining 20 percent would be done in the next few weeks.
    He recounted that the Idumagbo road which serves as a major link between Lagos Island and the Third Mainland Bridge was initially constructed by Julius Berger eight years ago but failed.
    This, he said, made Lagos State Government to take over the project and within one week paving stones have been laid.
    He attributed the flooding of the area to incessant blockage of the drainages by the traders, appealing to them to always patronise the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) in disposing of their waste.
    He promised that the Ministry of the Environment will be contacted to desilt the drainages.
    Chairman Community Development Association (CDA) at Jankara-Idumagbo, Mr. Elemoro Martins, appealed to Governor Ambode to direct the appropriate authority to help clear the drainages so as to ensure free flow of water.

  • Work begins on N6.9b Alade market six years after

    Work begins on N6.9b Alade market six years after

    Work yesterday began on the proposed N6.9billion Alade Modern Market following the relocation of traders from the old market.

    The project was delayed for six years because of misunderstanding between the traders and the concessionaire, Mr Lai Omotola.

    Addressing reporters on the market’s new site, which is about 100 metres behind the old one, Omotola described the project as the biggest single Public Private Partnership (PPP) project to be handled by any local government in the country. The Shopping Mall and Retail Market is owned by the Ikeja Local Government Area.

    Omotola whose company, Master Realty International Concepts Limited, won the concession in 2011, said the relocation took so long because the firm had to conclude talks with all those against the project.

    He denied allegations that his company flouted a court order, restraining it from going ahead with the construction, adding that the firm did not mobilise hoodlums to the market before the project started.

    Omotola traced the genesis of negotiations with stakeholders to the days of the late Iyaloja-General of Nigeria Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, who in an August 18, 2011 letter urged his company to move the traders to a temporary place, pending the construction of the new market.

    He said his company acquired 6.8 hectares of land behind the old market, and spent about N1.87 billion to provide, among others, 504 shops, 200 Kee Klamps, 20 toilets and three access roads.

    “In the history of market development in Nigeria, there’s never being a situation where a proper market is built before the old one is demolished and we had told all aggrieved persons to scout round for a better location that they could be relocated within Ikeja and no one has been able to come up with better option than what we have on ground,” he said.

    His company, Omotola said, offered the shops for N150, 000, and the Kee Klamps, N50,000.

    “To us, the going rate is at a loss to us but we have resolved that it should be that low to afford everyone an opportunity to own a shop and as part of our own corporate social responsibility. Traders who have fully paid up their rent started moving into the new site two weeks ago,” he said.

    He said when the old market was constructed by the local government in the 70s, it was taken over by respected Nigerians and retired public servants.

    Most of the traders were seen relocating from the old market yesterday. Some of them praised the government for providing them with an alternative close to their old shops.

  • Work begins on Calabar-Itu Fed highway

    Motorists and road users plying the Calabar-Odukpani-Itu Fedral highway have begun to heave a sigh of relief as the Cross River Government began palliative repairs on the road.

    The highway had been impassable for a long time, causing traffic gridlock.

    The road had made motorists and others plying it to spend nights on its bad spots during journeys that should take less than an hour.

    A motorist, Mr. Monday Okon Ikpe, said: “Last Thursday, I slept here because there was a long queue resulting from the bad road. But the intervention of the Cross River government has really helped us.”

    A passenger, Aniefiok Udoh, said: “I am happy for the assistance being offered to alleviate the suffering of road users.

    “The Federal Government should act fast because this is not a state road.”

    A driver of a truck, Abel Bartholomew, expressed joy at the ongoing remedial work.

    He said: “I am happy that the state government is intervening on the road. We abandoned the road and we have been using Mbarakom Road. In fact, I appreciate and pray that God grants Governor Ben Ayade many more years.”

    The Director (Civil) in the state’s Works Ministry, Godwin Akeke, noted that the intervention would continue because of the emerging dry season and the governor’s directive that the road be fixed soon.