From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Oil and Gas Industrial Park being built by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NDCMB) in Emeyal 1, Ogbia Local Government of Bayelsa State is set for completion in the fourth quarter of 2022 says the Executive Secretary of the board, Mr Simbi Wabote.
Wabote who stated this during a tour of the park in Emeyal expressed satisfaction with the level and qaulity of work being done.
According to him his visit is to inspect the quality of work done ahead a visit of the Minister of State for Petroluem, Chief Timipre Sylva who is planning to undertake a tour of all projects being undertaken by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration in the oil industry.
Said he:“I am highly impressed with the quality of work done so far. As you can see the idea behind this is to get as many contractors as possible on the site such that a standard is set and they are all working towards that standard. Most importantly is the fact this is being undertaken by purely local contractors and the quality is superb. It is a quality you can measure anywhere in this country or outside this country.
“On percentage of work for completion, we still have a long way to go. Currently most of the buildings to the finishing stages, some are just starting, we believe we would complete this project by Quarter 4 of 2022 and all the contractors are working towards the timeline.”
Wabote who explained that the benefits of the park scheme are tremendous stated that it would enhance the capacity of local manufacturing companies, and save Nigeria economy of foreign exchange.
“The benefits of the Park scheme to the industry, economy and nation are tremendous. One challenge we had in the oil industry is the local manufacturing. And most of the finished products we import and the idea behind the Oil and Gas Park Scheme is to incubate those manufacturing products in the country. It would to a large extent save the country the much needed foreign exchange for the nation. It would create jobs for our people, get people engaged and enhance our capacity and bring about technological innovation.
“Primarily one of the challenges of manufacturing in the country has to do with power and we have been able to conquer that on this site. We have already built a 10 megawatts gas plant so the site has guaranteed power. For the community, it would create a lot of jobs and it would be a spin off effect to other economic activities. The benefit is enormous. I can recount all of it.”