Metro
Bayelsa Community Laments Inappropriate Compensation For Oil Spill
The residents of Aghoro I, Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, has lamented that they are been shortchanged and inappropriately compensated by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, SPDC, for the oil spill in their community.
The community slammed the oil firm for arbitrarily determining the compensation figure for the May 17, 2018 spill, which ravaged the area.
Spokesperson of SPDC, Mr. Michael Adande, however, deflated the allegation, saying the oil firm acted with industry stakeholders to arrive at the compensation for the oil leak.
NDV learned that a Joint Investigation Visit, JIV, report of the incident had concluded that the leak on the pipeline at three spots were caused by equipment failure and discharged some 1,114 barrels of crude oil into the environment.
According to a community leader and member of the Community Development Committee (CDC) in Aghoro 1, Mr Friday Otigha, said the N34m offered by SPDC was unacceptable and had no bearing with the impact assessment report.
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He lamented that despite a recommendation of N3.68 billion by the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), SPDC proposed a paltry N34 million. Otigha alleged that the oil firm connived with some unauthorized community leaders to foist the arbitrarily determined compensation, which fell short of NOSDRA compensation rates on the community.
He recalled that the oil leak was reported on May 17, but the joint visit could not be immediately conducted until June 23, a development that worsened the adverse impact of the spill on the predominantly fishing community.
According to him, hundreds of impacted fishermen thrown out of fishing by the incident were disappointed at the turn of events, as they expected SPDC to act in line with international best practices. He urged the federal government to prevail on SPDC to retrace its steps and resolve the compensation in line with existing oil spill compensation guidelines set by the regulators.
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