INDICATIONS emerged Tuesday that the House of Representatives Committee on Environment has begun moves to resolve the disparity in $11.5 billion administrative charge imposed on Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) by two agencies of government over the oil spill that occurred at its Bonga field off the coast of Delta and Bayelsa states on December 20, 2011.
Specifically, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Management Agency (NIMASA) have asked SNEPCO to pay a total of $11.5 billion as Administrative Charges for the spill.
It was learnt that NOSDRA has charged SNEPCO $5 billion, while the NIMASA is said to have been charged $6.5 billion for the same spill.
The Bonga oil spill was said to have been caused by a rupture on an export hose which poured an estimated 40,000 barrels of crude oil across 950 square kilometres of water and thereby affecting the environment and the livelihood of the communities in the area.
Speaking with officials of NOSDRA, NIMASA and SNEPCO at a session in Abuja last week, Chairman, Committee on Environment, Uche Ekwunife tasked both government agencies to avail the panel with the yardstick used to determine the two amounts, adding that the Committee would resolve the issue of different penalties in collaboration with the two agencies involved.
Managing Director of SNEPCO, Mr. Chike Onyekekwe said the company has always adhered to the regulations in the sector, and disclosed that the cause of the accident was still being investigated.
Mrs. Gunwa Juliana, who represented NIMASA, told the panel that the agency was denied access to samples from the spill site by the facility manager.
However, Ekwunife lamented that the environment and the livelihood of the people in the area suffer whenever oil firms and government agencies argue over who was responsible for oil spills.
This is even as she charged SNEPCO to ensure that relief materials were sent to the affected communities, adding that excuses would no longer be condoned whenever oil spills occur.
"This committee is of the view that oil companies have a responsibility to protect their facilities and if their pipelines become compromised either due to sabotage or equipment failure, the oil companies have a responsibility to immediately clean the impacted sites. We cannot continue to sit down and watch our environment being continually degraded and our people lose their lives and sources of livelihood," the lawmaker said.
She disclosed that the panel has set up an Adhoc Committee to meet with the different stakeholders with a view to resolving the matter.
The Guardian