Lagos — Construction work has commenced on a N7.04 billion AS Energies Limited’s pipe manufacturing plant in Polaku, Bayelsa State.
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote performed the groundbreaking ceremony of the plant.
The plant would manufacture Glass Reinforced Epoxy, GRE, and Glass Reinforced Plastic, GRP, pipes and has an estimated investment outlay of about N7.04 billion ($8.8million).
The Executive Secretary, at the groundbreaking ceremony, commended the management of AS Energies Limited and its subsidiary, African Star Manufacturing Services Ltd, on the successful take-off of the construction work on the pipe manufacturing plant.
He noted that the project is in line with the mission statement of NCDMB: “to promote the development and utilization of in-country capacities for the industrialization of Nigeria through the effective implementation of the Nigerian Content Act.”
He further described the ongoing construction activities as a dream come true for the Polaku community as plans for a pipe manufacturing mill in the area had been on the drawing board for a decade.
He said the Polaku community and the Gbarain Clan, generally are blessed, given the concentration of strategic industries in the area and indications that others would be there. Some of the firms that are in the locality include the Shell Gas Gathering Plant, Azikel Refinery (a modular hydro-skimming processing plant), the US$45 million Types 3 LPG composite cylinder manufacturing plant, owned by Rungas Prime Industries Limited, and Eraskon Nigeria Limited.
Engr. Wabote said the pipe manufacturing plant is a testament to the giant strides in local content drive in the country, while assuring AS Energies Ltd that the NCDMB would give due consideration to its request for support. He equally enjoined the company’s Management to explore available financing options so as to ensure project delivery on schedule.
In a welcome address, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of AS Energies Ltd, Engr. Gbenga Olaniyan, said the choice of Polaku as site for the US$8.8 million project is deliberate, as the company seeks to be a development partner in the area.
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