OKIES VEEKY/GODWIN AYOBAMI RACHAEL
The Federal Government has been called upon to revoke the operational licence of Heritage Energy Operationanal Services Limited (HEOSL) over withholding of local contractors payments for jobs done.
This call was made by Eric Omare(Esq), President, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide while addressing journalists at the NUJ Warri Correspondents Chapel Press Centre, he disclosed that Heritage Energy Operationanal Services (HEOSL), operators of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 30 has been withholding payments of indigenous contractors for two to three years.
The group also called on the federal government to revoke the operating license awarded to the company due to incompetence and lack of finance to manage the asset as well as other responsibilities.
Omare (Esq.) further alleged that Heritage’s board of directors have subsidiary companies which they contract jobs to and pay on completion to the detriment of the locals.
Stressing that the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has “failed in its responsibilities,” the IYC President warned that the situation, if not addressed, may lead to disruption of the company’s operations in the state.
OML 30 is reportedly the second largest OML in Nigeria with assets across Urhobo, Itsekiri, Isoko and Ijaw lands in Delta state.
The President of IYC stated that HEOSL has become a “monster and curse” to its host communities, just as he wondered why things became worse with indigenous companies taking over from oil multinationals.
According to Omare, “with the law giving rights to Nigerians to participate in the oil and gas industry, there should also be a corresponding benefit to the local communities that produce these resources. We decided to raise a message to the appropriate authorities before the situation will degenerate to chaos.”
He added, “we have situations whereby local contractors will do jobs for this company and are not paid in spite of the fact that these local contractors obtained loans to execute the projects, some have to secure loan with their properties. But this company does not pay these local contractors for up to two and three years.”
Omare spoke further, “while they refuse to pay local contractors, they pay their own companies. In order words, the company has a board of directors who have subsidiary companies with which they take contracts that ordinarily ought to go to the local contractors. And when it is time to pay for jobs, instead of paying the local contractors, they pay themselves.”
The IYC President said, ” the implication is instead of that money to be spent in the local environment here, it is transported outside the Niger Delta region and most cases, out of the country. The resultant effect is the overwhelming poverty that we are seeing in the Delta environment and its potential to create militancy in the region.”
Calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Minister of State Petroleum Resources to revoke the company’s operating license, he said, “apart from contract is the employment of our youths. We are a youth organization, when our people are employed, it reduces the pressure on leadership.”
“But what we are experiencing now is that those oil mining license holders, because they are from outside the Niger Delta, employ only their people to the detriment of the local youths who have the requisite qualification to be employed,” he noted.
He further noted, “We feel these are very serious issues. The militancy that happened in the past, started with small pockets of protests with military repression in return. But where you don’t nip it in the bud, it will degenerate into a situation whereby people will resort to destroying oil facilities and other negative activities. So, we feel that we do not need to wait to get to that level before we raise alarm.”
On the call to revoke the Operationanal licence of the company, Omare said, “with specific reference to Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited, operators of OML 30, we are calling on the federal government of Nigeria, through the Ministry Of Petroleum Resources, to revoke their operative license because they are not competent and do not have the resources to manage an oil mining lease.”
Efforts to reach HEOSL Public Relations desk were unsuccessful as at the time of sending this story.
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