NAN Archive

Loading

NAN Archive

All posts by Nathan 0803 333 4860

Environment

Coastline dwellers decry dead fishes on Bayelsa shoreline, seek investigation

Coastline dwellers decry dead fishes on Bayelsa shoreline, seek investigation

 

Shoreline

By Nathan Nwakamma

Yenagoa, April 2, 2020 (NAN) Residents along Foropa, Sangana axis of the Atlantic coastline in Bayelsa have reported sighting dead fishes littering the shoreline, reports News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

 

Some of the residents who spoke to NAN on Thursday said the occurrence was noticed since March 15 and had yet to abate fueling fears of pollution of the country’s territorial waters by toxic substances.

 

Mr Leghemo Ebrasin, a youth leader, said the development was strange and could be an indication of increased toxicity of the Atlantic ocean which could impact residents.

 

Ebrasin who hails from Koluama, a settlement on the Atlantic shoreline, Southern Ijaw ocal Government Area of Bayelsa, urged oil firms operating in the area to close ranks with the oil industry regulators to trace the source of the pollution.

 

“The residents on the shoreline are concerned and worried about what is happening with the coastline littered with dead fishes; the maritime environment supports our livelihood which is fishing.

 

“The same environment hosts oil operations with several oil blocks in the area operated by many oil firms and I believe the safety of their operational environment should be of concern to the operators of these oilfields too.

 

“There is need for an industry-wide joint investigation involving the regulators and all operators with community and government representatives at the three ties to find out the cause of massive death of fish species.

 

“My parents are both in the fishing vocation and have refrained from going to fish out of concerns for the public health implication of contaminated toxic fish.,” the youth leader said.

 

Michael Owin, who resides at Sangana, a coastline settlement in Bayelsa, said that the people were seeing dead fishes washed and dropped by the tide on a daily basis from middle of March.

 

According to him, some unsuspecting people have picked the dead fishes taking them for ‘stranded’ and eaten them.

 

“It is not unusual to find fishes dropped at the coastline after the tide goes down but the number is making us curious to suspect that the marine ecosystem must be getting much toxic.

 

“The common fish species here are known to be resilient and sensitive, one would have expected them to migrate deeper but their death in numbers may be an indication of crisis,” he said.

 

Ebi Seigha, a fisherman in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, told NAN that the fishing communities were worried at the development, adding that they were concerned about the health safety of their catch.

 

Another resident at Foropa, coastline community in Bayelsa Mr Ekemeghesuotei Sese, said an environmental audit of materials used by oil companies was desirable to ascertain the safety of people in the area.

 

He said that such a development was capable of wipping of species of sea creatures in the food chain. (NAN)

NN/DCU

=======

Edited by Donald Ugwu

Oil & Gas

New petrol pump price: DPR seals 2 fuel stations in Bayelsa

DPR
By Nathan Nwakamma
Yenagoa, April 1, 2020 (NAN) The Bayelsa field office of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), on Wednesday, sealed two fuel stations for dispensing petrol above the new pump price of N125 per litre.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Federal Government had, on March 18, announced the reduction of the pump price of petrol from N145 to N125 per litre, to reflect the fall in crude oil prices.
NAN also reports that the pump price was, on Tuesday night, further reduced by 1.50k per litre, making the new price to be N123.50 per litre.
The DPR officials in the state, however, said that they had yet to receive directive on the latest review.
Speaking with newsmen after the surveillance exercise, Mr George Ene-Ita, the Operations Controller of DPR, said that while one of the sanctioned stations sold petrol at the old price of N145, the second was shut for grossly under dispensing.
Ene-Ita said that DPR was poised to enforcing the new price of petrol by the Federal Government, which, he said, was aimed at bringing relief to Nigerians, adding that it had intensified surveillance patrols.
He said that the agency was working to ensure the availability of the product despite the lockdown, occasioned by the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, stressing that marketers were being encouraged to maintain safety guidelines.
“We are working hard amidst the current challenges of this time of national emergency, which cuts across international boundaries, to ensure that petrol was available at approved pump prices.
“Our aim is to enforce the price reduction from N145 to N125 per litre, and from our findings, the rate of compliance is quite high in Bayelsa. Our attention is also on checking under-dispensing.
“We sanctioned some stations, where some of their pumps under-dispensed by sealing the erring pumps and allowing the accurate pumps to dispense rather than outright shutdown, to ensure product availability at this crucial time.
“In playing our regulatory roles, we shall not hesitate to wield the big stick by imposing appropriate sanctions on any erring pump, which is a fine of N100,000 per pump,” Ene-Ita said. (NAN)
NN/FF/WAS
Edited by Fela Fashoro and ‘Wale Sadeeq

Environment

Illegal refineries: Bayelsa communities seek end to pollution of Kolo Creek

Illegal refineries: Bayelsa communities seek end to pollution of Kolo Creek

Pollution
By Nathan Nwakamma
Yenagoa, Feb. 24, 2020 (NAN) Residents of 14 communities of Kolo Creek in Bayelsa, have appealed to the state government and the Niger Delta Joint Task Force to save them from the harmful effects of oil pollution.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Kolo Creek had been receiving crude as fallout of activities of illegal artisanal refiners with the worst polluted communities in recent times being Otuasega, Imiringi, Yiba-ama and Ibelebiri.

They lamented that the illegal oil refining camps had impacted the Kolo Creek, which is their only source of drinking water.

Some leaders of the communities in a field report released on Monday by the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria and signed by Mr Morris Alagoa said the residents were helpless.

“The main subject of discussion is how to stop the activities causing the Kolo Creek to be so polluted.

“But our fear, to be truthful to you, is that anybody within this area that champions the moves aimed at stopping the local refining will be attacked by those perpetrating the act.

“So, the resolution was that we are going to approach the operators and owners of the crude oil refining camps to tell them not to allow the crude oil come down to the Kolo River.

“They should look for a way, either to dig a pit where the residue of their operations could be directed and later burnt off.

“Anybody that champions that, especially in this our area, will be attacked. But government is bigger than them and communities will support such efforts of government,” the report said.

Some residents, Angelina Ngeribo and Agnes Ibugom, said the people could no longer bathe in the creek or fetch water for domestic uses, stressing that the situation had made life difficult for them.

“This crude oil on our water is affecting us in many ways. There is no way to bathe in the creek again. If you venture to go in and come out your body will be oily as if you rubbed pomade. We are suffering as a result of the current condition of the river.

“We are not telling lies. When you are paddling in your canoe, all your hands, your chest, clothes will all get soiled with crude oil including your canoe,” Ngeribo said. (NAN)
NN/CEO/GY
==========

Edited by Chidi Opara/Grace Yussuf