The feud between the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Tirwun community in Bauchi Local Government Area has deepened over the siting of gas plant.
While DPR maintains that the siting of gas plant, the community insists doing do will put the lives of thousands of inhabitants in danger.
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has dispelled the fear of Tirwun community of Bauchi local government of Bauchi state on the establishment of a gas plant there.
The Comptroller of DPR, Bauchi field office, Abdullahi Iliyasu, in an interview with reporters, said the department had conducted an assessment of the site and found it safe before granting the owners approval to establish the gas plant.
Related: Bauchi community disagrees with DPR over siting of gas plants
“One of the guidelines for siting a gas plant is that it must be about 50 meters away from residences,” he said, noting that, in the case of Tirwun gas plant, “there is a distance of 70 meters; between the plant and the said mosque, there is a demarcator road.”
He added that “The land was cleared, it will not cause any harm or problem. Based on that, the land was approved for the building of gas plant, There is no gas plant that has good land size in Bauchi than that of Tirwun. A comprehensive environmental impact assessment was carried out to ascertain any potential danger”.
However, the residents of Tirwun community said they are against the siting of the gas plant in their area because of noncompliance with minimum environmental safety requirements for the operations of the facility and the danger it will pose for thousands of people living in the area.
Spokesman of the Tirwun community, Dr Hayatu Mustafa, told reporters in Bauchi, “our attention has been drawn to another unfounded statement by the DPR through Alhaji Abdullahi Iliyasu, the field officer of DPR Bauchi Office and, according to him, there is ‘no cause for alarm on Tirwun gas plant – Bauchi.”
Hayatu, who is the Barden Kudu in the Bauchi emirate, said the law for establishing gas plant is clear about safety of the environment and, without following the law, the lives of thousands households in the area will be put in danger.
“Our position remains that the distance between the gas plant and the mosque, as well as the surrounding properties, does not meet standard regulatory guidelines for establishment of a gas plants. As such, the plant should be relocated forthwith to a safer environment where all requirements would be met.
“We call on the government, the civil society and well-meaning citizens to come to our aid before it would be too late to cry,” he said.
According to him, based on DPR laws, before siting of gas plant in public places, the distance must be 50 meters. He said people should look at the law page 7 item D.
He said “below is the distance between the surrounding properties and the gas plant.
“The Distance between LPG Plant to Babangida Opel Villa is just 5.6 Meters (19 feet). The distance between the gas plant and Alh Hamza’s Block Factory is less than 1 meter. The distance between the plant and Dr Isah’s building is 26.9 meters.
“The distance between the gas plant and Hajiya Fatimah’s building is less than 1 meter. The distance between Abdulmalik Sale Yalwaji’s building and the plant is 7 meters. The distance between Dr Kawule Tijjani’s building behind Hajiya Fatimah is 8 meters. .The distance between Saidu Hayatu Dukku’ building and the plant is 7 metres. The distance between the gas plant and Hayatu Mustapha’s residence is 49 meters”.
Hayatu advised DPR to commence dismantling such gas plants in petrol stations. “However, one wonders why the case of Tirwun juma’at mosque is treated differently, with Action Energy being treated with kid gloves.”
He called on Bauchi State Governor Senator Bala Mohammed to order the dismantling of the Tirwun gas plant in order to save lives of thousands of residents of the area.
Dateline Nigeria reports that the disagreement between the community and Action Energy over the siting of gas plant in the area had been lingering for over one year.
