Taskforce Seal illegal Gas Station at Ughelli in Delta

Taskforce Seal illegal Gas Station at Ughelli in Delta

Delta State Taskforce on Environment in conjunction with Ministry of Environment on Friday sealed up JVT Cooking Gas Station situated at Ekeredjebor road in Ughelli, Delta State. 

The action was prompted following refusal of the owner of the Gas Station to provide operational permit documents after series of Abatement Notices served the gas company since June last year 2020.

Meanwhile, Hon. Sylvester Oromoni led Delta State Taskforce on Environment had earlier advised gas plant operators across the state to first obtain approval papers from DPR and the Ministry of Environment so as to be on the safe side of the law.

He reaffirmed Delta state government commitment to protect lives and properties of all deltans, stressing that Gov. Okowa led government is doing everything possible to prevent further occurrence of what happened at Agbor last year 2020. 

He reiterated that the Agbor gas explosion that killed many lives and render residents homeless was as result of siting such illegal plants close to residential buildings. He advice those into domestic gas business to first seek DPR permit before erecting their stations, saying the state government will not tolerate any illegal gas plant situated close to residential buildings. He therefore, charged commercial gas operators across the state to do the right thing so as to be on the safe side of the law, Oromoni stated.

In his reaction, the head of field operation Ministry of Environment Warri, Mr. Ichei said the gas plant was shut down because it does not have the required documents to operate. He stressed that before one is allowed to set up commercial gas plant, first the location must not be situated close to residential area where people live. Secondly, the land size must be accurate, that is 100 by 100. And thirdly, the operator must be issued a permit license to operate by DPR. But unfortunately, JVT Cooking Gas Plant Ughelli does not have the required documents. Hence, "we are here today to shut it down and urged them to relocate to a safer ground", he noted.

However, team of the state taskforce equally served Rain Oil Ughelli 72hrs Abatement Notice to tender approval documents for operation. It further served the popularly Ughelli Scrab market located at Ekiugbo junction to clean up the refuse dump at the premises as well as those trading under electric high tension to relocate to a safer ground.