Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The House of Representatives’ Committee on Host Communities, has announced that it will propose a review of the Petroleum Industry Act before the National Assembly, to amend the grey areas in the law which will not allow a seamless implementation.
The Committee saddled with the duty to handle the yearnings and aspirations of host communities, said it will protect the interest of all stakeholders by engaging the oil and gas industry regulators, the settlors and the host communities for a smooth implementation of the PIA to increase Nigeria’s oil output and boost the nation’s revenue.
The Chairman, of the House of Reps Committee on Host Communities, Hon. Dumnamene Dekor, disclosed these in Port Harcourt, yesterday, during a two-day Technical Session on the Implementation of Host Community Development Trusts organized for critical stakeholders by Spaces for Change, S4C, with support from Ford Foundation.
Stakeholders at the S4C technical session include members of the National Assembly, oil operators, industry regulators, members of HCDTs, traditional rulers, civil society organisations, media, among others.
Dekor said the Committee will look at the grey areas in section 257(2) of the PIA, which leaves the responsibility of securing oil and gas installations in the hands of unarmed host communities – a duty which the military, Operation Delta Safe, Civil Defence, Police and pipeline surveillance contractors have failed.
He said, “One of the major aims of this meeting is to look at the grey areas in the PIA, you will agree with me that there are shortcomings in virtually all laws and there is room to tinker with the laws from time to time; and when we find these gaps, we have to look for legislative intervention to handle them.
“It is our duty as House Committee on Host Community to handle the cries of the oil and gas host communities in the Niger Delta, so we must ensure those areas of the law are amended and also work with the regulatory agencies to provide regulations.
“I assure you that some parts of that law that have been identified as not going to serve the purpose, we will propose amendment to them. We will go back and do this amendment to reflect more roles for the settlor, the regulators and the host communities.
“We’ll go deeply into how the 3 percent OPEX is determined, we’ll engage NUPRC on that. The host communities also have a huge role to play, we will engage all the HCDTs. We will urge the regulators, the operators and the communities to cooperate with us in ensuring that we have a law that will be seamless in terms of delivery.”
Dekor also disclosed that the House of Reps has constituted a Special Committee to investigate the issue of oil theft in the country.
“The issue of low oil production has to do with many variables. The average Nigerian does not have the funds to run a 29km pipeline from an oil installation to the sea, the major oil is stolen in the sea, not in the backwaters. We can bring airplanes to carry out air strikes, but we can’t stop the attachment of these pipelines in the sea, so it’s food for thought.”
“The issue of oil theft is commonplace to everybody, as we speak there is legislative intervention on that. There is a Special Committee of the House of Reps to do a proper investigation into the issues of oil theft. I won’t preempt the outcome of the investigation, of which I am a co-chair, but I assure you that once we are done with the investigations, we will make it public.”
