Elders of the Bille Kingdom in Degema Local Government Area, Rivers State has asked the federal government for licence to operate a modular refinery as a major condition to ending illegal bunkering.
Vice Chairman of Amanyanabo-in-Council, Bille, Dr. Ibitamino Minapakama made this statement when the former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, visited the area.
Minapakama said
“We are grateful that the Federal Government has come to see us. Poverty is one of the major problems we have in the Niger Delta. Anything you can do to assist our communities will be satisfactory. We the chiefs will help and assist our son you have appointed to champion this move to succeed. “We have already applied to the Federal Government to give us a modular refinery to be sited in Bille community due to the facilities we have here. This area deserves a modular refinery. It must be sited in this place. We need reclamations and shore protection to be done for us.”
Modular Refinery are ideally suited for remote locations and are viable for Investments by Private and Public Sector Groups as a source of rapid production of primary fuel products and raw materials for Petrochemical Downstream Industries.
In May, the Department of Petroleum Resources gave licenses to 13 firms to establish modular refineries although a total of 35 firms expressed interest to establish the refineries.
Establishment of modular refineries is one of the key policies of President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration to resolve agitation in the Niger Delta.
