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| Baale Lamina Akinsode(middle) and other members of the Onisiwo Community at the stakeholders' meeting in Apapa on Wednesday |
The Onisiwo Island including its six
riverine communities in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, on
Wednesday pledged its full support for a proposed industrial park project in
its community by the Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd.
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| Onisiwo community members at meeting with Integrated Oil&Gas and Ministry of Environment at Alausa, Lagos |
Over 20 of the community members, led by
Chief Lamina Akinsode, the Baale Agala 11 of Onisiwo Island Tomaro, said the
project was a welcome move they had looked forward to over the years.
Chief Akinsode and other members of the
community expressed this opinion at a stakeholders meeting in Apapa involving
the community and Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd.
Also in attendance at the meeting were a
representative of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Mrs Doris Okoawoh, a
representative of the Lagos State Government, Mrs A. Abiola and the
Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) Consultant, Prof. Alhassan Mohammed.
The stakeholder meeting was necessitated
by the need to refute allegations of non-adherence to environmental
requirements preceding development of such project.
Chairman of the company, Capt. Emmanuel
Iheanacho, briefed newsmen that certain Mr Raymond Onoriobe Gold and a Ms Augustina
Armstrong Ogbonna had written a malicious petition against his firm.
He said they alleged that his company had
started a dredging and construction work at the site, which they claimed was
impacting negatively on the community.
A copy of the petition made available to newsmen
showed that the petitioner claimed to have written on behalf of the Irede
Community, which is a part of the larger Onisiwo Island.
A part of the allegation read that “ As we
write this letter, dredging and other construction activities are already
ongoing at the site… As we write this letter, we do not know if an EIA has been
carried out.”
Contrary to the claim by Gold, Chief Lamina
said, “the entire members of Onisuwo Island, Baales, everybody in the community
dissociate themselves from this petition.
“We state here that the proposed project
by Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd is yet to start contrary to the petition written
by Raymond Gold.
“However, we look forward to the project
in our community because it will bring about development to us; what we have
been expecting for long time. It will help our youths to get jobs to be
working.”
Akinsode also confirmed that the EIA was
in process, while the community had yet to see any construction work take off,
adding that Mr Gold must apologise to all stakeholders concerned for his
malicious petition.
When the issue was brought to the knowledge
of the environment ministry and the corresponding authority in Lagos State, a
meeting to address the issues was convened and a five-point resolution reached.
That the community supports the Tomaro
Island refinery Development Project;
That the communities dissociate themselves from the petition written by Raymond Gold and
articulated by Augustina Armstrong Ogbonna, that the EIA process had started since
Dec. 2015 and currently ongoing.
That physical development of the proposed
industrial park is yet to commence;
That the communities insist Mr Raymond Onoriobe
Gold apologises to all relevant regulatory bodies and also to Integrated Oil
and Gas Ltd for the embarrassment that he has caused all concerned, and in the
process where he fails to apologise, drastic actions be taken on him.;
That there should be a press conference by
Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd to refute the allegations made by Mr Raymond
Onoriobe Gold, Christina Armstrong Ogbonna and others.
The resolution was signed by Mrs Doris
Okoawoh, representing the Ministry of Environment; Mrs A. Abiola, representing
the Lagos State Government, and Prof. Alhassan Mohammad, the Project
Environmental Consultant.
Mohammad described the petition as unrealistic,
as according to him, no EIA consultant would get involved in a shoddy project
to circumvent the law demanding the due assessment procedures.
He said that was the reason for having
representatives from both government authorities responsible for ensuring
compliance to requirements for regulatory purposes.
Capt. Iheanacho refuted all the claims of
the petition saying the his company is following all laid down processes to
ensure an EIA is done as required before any construction work will take off.