Ayuba Mafi
A Bauchi Community Tirwum which is about 5 kilometers from the metropolis has raised alarm overbuilding of a gas plant in their area by the Action Energy Construction Company in Bauchi state.
Leader of the delegation of Tirwun Community Malam Muhammad Ali Chiroma made this known during a press conference with journalists in Bauchi said that the gas plant will not only affect hundreds of residents alone but will also affect passersby and commuters.
Accordingly, the plant was constructed close to an existing filling station and also adjacent to a nursery and primary schools which have a greater effect and pose danger to the lives of people around the area.
He said “We’ve informed the Ward heads, Emirate council, state government, and all other relevant authorities in regards to our complaint about the construction of a gas plant in our area by Action Energy Gas Company”,
“During our setting with the Action Energy Constructions Company, they made promises to build a clinic for the community, which we the community unanimously reject the offer”, he said.
Lamenting that the majority of the staff employed, they don’t have the requisite qualifications to run and managed those filling stations or the gas plant stations in case of any emergency.
He added that the law has stipulated guidelines and safety measures before going on with the construction or building of a gas plant station, which the company failed to do, noting that the promoters of the Gas Plant have failed to provide an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report to the host community to ascertain the effects and mitigation measures.
The community, however, expressed its appreciation and gratitude to the Governor for his timely intervention of issuing a stop-to-work order, which Action Energy still flagrantly violated.
Thus, the community wishes to call immediate revocation of the property title in order to save hundreds of lives.
Galadima further said “Merging gas plants with filling stations in the areas is a great threat to the entire community in the area as well as putting the lives of thousands of worshipers at risk, noting that the approval obtained for situating the gas plant was temporary”, he added.
Universal Reporters who visited the Gas Plant site to get a reaction from the company proved abortive, as there was nobody in the building area to comment on the matter.
