Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Rivers State Government on Monday ordered the closure of a gas plant, Adros Gas, where explosion occured at the weekend, in Rumuodomaya axis of Obio/Akpor, along the Airport Road.
The move, according to the Rivers State Commissioner of Energy and Natural Resources, Dr. Peter Medee, is for proper investigation, since the incident may have been caused by negligence from the operators.
Last Saturday, gas fire explosion reportedly rocked Adros gas plant in Rumuodomaya, shaking the foundation of surrounding buildings in the area, until the fire was put out by operatives of the state fire service, hours later.
No casualty was recorded, however, few persons working in the gas plant sustained several degrees of burnt injuries and are presently receiving treatments in the hospital.
Medee while inspecting the explosion site, said that the state government was unaware of the existence of the gas plant in the state.
“From our on-the-spot assessment, I think there must be some negligence from the operations of the company, because we are meant to understand that they were discharging gas in the night, while there was a generator that was on and running close to the direction of the gas, which may have caused sparks that led to the fire.
“Also, we have seen that the company has some safety gadgets in place, but we are not very satisfied with those gadgets and if they were actually operational, because for us as a ministry, we are not aware of this facility, and if we were aware of the existence of this facility, we would have been carrying out our periodic audit of their safety standard and safety procedure.
“Unfortunately, this has happened and I have directed that this place should be sealed while the ministry will conduct detailed investigation to know what exactly happened.
“We are also aware that some casualties were involved and they are presently receiving treatments at the hospital, we pray that they will recover soon and this will not happen again.
“The outcome of our detailed investigation will determined our next line of action.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of PETROAN in Rivers State, Francis Dimgba, called for the resuscitation of all fire service stations in the state, to help curtail fire outbreaks.
It should be noted that there was gas explosion at Osadebe gas plant in Agbor, Delta State last Friday, and another gas explosion same day in Nnewi, Anambra State at the point of discharge.
