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By Joel Anekwe
The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has warned the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited against moving or contracting out the fabrication components of the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for its Train 7 project billed to take place on Bonny Island to Lagos or to non-indigenous companies.
Chairman of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Ibani Clan, Princewill Oko-Jumbo, who issued this warning in Port Harcourt, vowed that Ijaw Youths would resist any plan by Nigeria LNG to outsource the fabrication component of the project to companies in Lagos.
The Nigeria LNG had earlier awarded the contracts for the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) of its planned plant expansion project, Train 7, to B7 JV Consortium and SCD JV Consortium, which will see it realize its expansion goals of increasing liquefied natural gas production output from 22 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 30 MTPA when the project is completed.
Unconfirmed reports have it that the Nigeria LNG recently signed a deal subletting the fabrication component of the FEED to two companies, Samsun Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries, which are said to be preparing to execute the said jobs at the LADOL Offshore Logistics yard at Snake Island in Lagos State.
Jumbo expressed his displeasure over the move by Nigeria LNG to allegedly sublet the said jobs to companies outside Bonny, lamenting that it would deny the people of the area the employment opportunities therein, thereby advising the company to domicile the fabrication jobs in the community thereby availing the indigenes and residents of Bonny Kingdom the dividends of having the NLNG plant in the community.
“If what we are hearing is true, we will not hesitate to consult stakeholders of the IYC both at the national and state level in liaison with other groups in the Niger Delta to resist the move.”
“What I understand is that all these companies are taking us for granted, we are not happy about it, I must tell you the truth”, Jumbo stated.
Meanwhile, a member of the House of Representatives representing Akoko South-East/South-West Federal Constituency, Ade Adeogun, has stated that the decision to move the fabrication jobs to LADOL yard in Lagos was purely a business decision made by the Nigeria LNG.
Adeogun, in a Facebook comment, said, “LADOL base would serve as host for integration of the locally fabricated components because of the concentration of experienced local manpower and space.
“I am therefore of the belief that choosing Lagos was a business decision. It is to the benefit of Nigeria too because in the case of Trains 1-6, the parts now being locally fabricated were fabricated outside Nigeria.”
The lawmaker, who was a former chairman of the Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Authority, noted that other local fabrication companies such as Aveon in Port Harcourt and FMC are expected to participate in the job, adding that the already existing fabricators in the host communities may not be capable to handle the enormity and the level of expertise that would be involved in executing the project.
The IYC chieftain, however, countered the claim made by Adeogun, who downgraded the standard of the indigenous companies in the Niger Delta region for not possessing the required level of expertise in carrying out a job of such magnitude, saying until they are given the opportunity it may be preposterous to conclude that they lack the capability to handle such jobs.
He, therefore, advised Nigeria LNG to revisit the contract and do the needful by carrying out the fabrication of its components in any of the numerous land spaces available in Bonny, adding that, in line with its avowed affirmation to Nigeria and local content development, it should consider developing the capacity of indigenous companies in its host communities.