By Tony Udemba
Members of the House of Representatives’ adhoc committee on the Need
to Relocate Tank Farms from Residential Areas, recently undertook a
two-day tour of oil storage facilities located within Ibru Jetty,
Beach land Estate and Apapa areas.
The Committee which was thorough and diligent during the inspections, expressed dissatisfaction on varying
levels of infractions and non- compliance discovered in
some facilities, tasked the owners of tank farm on the need
to operate in accordance with regulatory requirements and approvals. Some of the tank visited by Committee include, Integrated Oil & Gas, Ibafon Petroleum, Ardova Petroleum, Conoil, Total, Honeywell, AZ, 11 Oil, OVH, Nipco and others.
Speaking at the stakeholders meeting which was organized by the
committee, its chairman, Hon. Princess Mariam Onuoha,
representing Isiala Mbano/ Onuimo/ Okigwe Federal constituency of Imo
State, stated that the purpose of their visit Lagos was to investigate
the regulatory compliance and safety implications of the location of
tank farms in residential areas, and make appriopriate recomendations to the House of Representatives.
According to her, “ we are members of the Adhoc-Committee of the Federal House of
Reps on the need to relocate Tank Farms from Residential Areas. We have come on investigative move to the remaining tank
farms in Lagos State, specifically those located in Ibru Jetty, Beach
land Estate and Apapa Wharf.” Continuing, she says, “ we have been in
Lagos on investigative and reconnaissance visit, and for 2days we
have toured the facilities of these tank farms, and we are in joint
inspection with Federal Fire Service, Department of Petroleum
Resources, Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigerian Ports Authority,
NIMASA and related agencies of the Lagos State government. Our visit
also stem from the recent fire incident in the OVH facility. While we
commiserate with the owners of the facility, we have commended the
team work exhibited by stakeholders around that neighbourhood which
lead to the putting off of the fire. We also thank God that there was
no loss of life in the inferno”. She noted that from their investigations and findings, they
had noticed varying degrees of infractions ranging from fire
safety using the best techniques and latest designs of fighting fires.
” We have also listened to some of the major challenges being faced by
the owners of tanks farms, particularly problems of access to forex,
no access roads, tripartite agreements and other myriads of
challenges. We as a house are determined to work with tank farm operators to ensure that
there would be no hitch in the smooth supply of petroleum products,
which about 60 percent of total national consumption or about that,
comes from Lagos State”. Speaking further, Hon. Onuoha stated, ” By this visit and our findings, we have
mandated tank farm operators in Lagos, especially within those areas
we have visited, to comply with set security and regulatory standards,
and work in conformity with the provisions of the Lagos State
Ministry of Physical and planning to ensure compliance”.
On what would be the fate of tank farm operators who failed to meet up with the safety codes
and regulatory standards, the leader of the committee says, ” i think about two or three of tank farm owners such as Obat and
others, who have some infractions in their operations, and were not
here, we have summoned them to appear before the committee in Abuja,
in conformity with the mandate given to us on oversight for which we
are here on investigation. We want these companies to appear before
our committee with full disclosure of their registrations and
approvals to operate and other relevant regulatory requirements,
certifications and others, which we did not see in their facilities.
As a committee of the House of Reps, our advice to tank farm owners is to ensure that they adhere strictly to safety codes and regulatory procedures,
as well as the global best practices required of in the industry. They must make sure that their operations have all the necessary approvals, certifications, modern fire fighting equipment and other necessary tools in order to prevent fire disasters, and for the effective protection of lives and property of residents. Also, these are necessary for the protection of the lives of their staffs and the huge investments they have made. They must not shy away from acquiring latest designs and technology in their operations, in order to guide against fire out-breaks in their facilities”.
She disclosed that in the course of the fact-finding and investigative tour of oil storage facilities in Lagos, the House Adhoc Committee had visited about 25
tank farms, while it’s findings were categorized appropriately, noting, ” it is
unfortunate that most facilities have not fully met with the
regulatory requirements and operational safety standards, while some
are either processing their documentations or yet to start. But like I
said, we are here to work with the tank farm owners to ensure that the
varying degrees of infractions we discovered in their facilities are
put in order for the safety of their host communities, as well as
their staffs and huge investments”.
On the deplorable roads and decaying infrastructures within the
areas of the facilities, Hon. Onuoha stated that with intervention of House of Representatives the NPA in partnership with the
Federal Ministry of Works would very soon kick off civil works on the access roads in Kirikiri Town axis.
In the same vain, Hon. Oghene Emma Egoh, member House of
Representatives, representing Amuwo Odofin federal constituency of
Lagos State, commended the large turn up at the stakeholders meeting, even
as he sued for the cooperation between the tank farm owners and
residents to promote harmony and effective security and safety of the
area against fire disaster. He stated that as the representative of
Amuwo Odofin federal constituency, where most of the petroleum storage
facilities are located, it became necessary for him to move the motion
which resulted in the setting up of the house adhoc-committee given
the number of petitions from residents seeking for the relocation of
the tank farms due to the high risk of fire outbreak. He noted that
while it was pertinent for tank farm operators to continue with their
business, they must ensure to protect the lives and property of
residents, through the acquisition and implementation of adequate
safety standard, modern fire-fighting equipment and all other
requirements stipulated by the regulatory bodies. According to him, “
during the tour of the tank farms by the adhoc- House Committee, we
saw the huge investments made by the owners of the tank farms, and I
tend to believe that while they are doing their business, there is
the compelling need for them to implement modern safety standards and
global best practices for the effective protection of lives and
property of residents. While going about their business they must
realize that the safety of human lives are paramount in their daily
operations ’’.
In his presentations at the stakeholders meeting, Mr. Daniel Egbe of
the Federal Fire Service, stated that it was regrettable that most of
the about 25 tank farms visited during the inspection tour of the
facilities by the committee, were not compliant with the
required fire-fighting codes and safety standards. He noted that in
some facilities, their fire fighting equipment were malfunctioning and
not being regularly serviced to function effectively. While he
categorized the varying levels of compliance of the tank farms, he
called on them to strictly abide with all the standard safety
requirements of the government for effective mitigation of any
incidence of fire disaster.
While commending the committee members for their visit, Mr. Jancre
Godwin of MOMAN, assured them of the readiness of the association to
partner with the House of Representatives and government in their
efforts to guarantee safety and harmony in the industry, even as he
reiterated the efforts of tank farm owners to operate in accordance
with the requirements of the regulatory agencies. He further spoke on
the collaborative efforts of members of the association in areas of
infrastructural development, security and safety of operations, and
others, while urging the House of Representatives to support them with access to forex, access roads and others.
Speaking to the media at the event, a resident of the area and environmentalist, Chief Williams, decried the high risk associated
with the location of tank farms in the area, saying that “ with the
high concentration of oil storage facilities in residential areas, it
would be disastrous to control fire outbreak in the area, if there is
any fire incident. Look at what happened recently at the OVH tank farm
facility at Ijora. Fire raged on for about three days before it was
brought to a stop. You could have imagined what would have happened if
it was not stopped”. He called on the government to relocate the oil
storage facilities outside densely populated areas, adding “ residents
are tired of all these excuses from the tank farm operators
The one-day stakeholders meeting which held at Radisson Blues hotel, Victoria Island, was attended by managing directors/ CEOs and representatives of tank farm owners, oil &gas experts, community leaders and environmentalists. Other participants were, representatives of Federal Fire Service, Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigerian Ports Authority, Department of Petroleum Resources, NIMASA, Representatives of relevant agencies of the Lagos State Government.
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