By Ovedhe Hezekiah-Warri
The Chairman of Isoko South local government council, Delta State, Mr Itiako Ikpokpo, has called for the disengagement of Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited, HEOSL, as operators of the Oil Mining Lease, OML 30.
Ikpokpo said in a statement that HEOSL has become mindlessly irresponsible in her relationship with host communities.
Recall that some time ago Host communities shut down OML 30 flow stations
The chairman said the call was due to operational misconducts and deliberate refusal to implement provisions of the Global Memorandum of Understanding, GMOU entered into with host communities by Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited.
“The company has reneged on virtually all of its commitment to host communities, a situation which has brought about tension, unrest and chaos in the communities with ripple effect on the local and state government”, Ikpokpo noted.
READ : I spent eight hours on Calabar-Itu road – APC National Secretary
He added that HEOSL incessant lies and disregard has become a great threat to the peace and security of the Local Government, adding that, several attempts have been made by the council and other critical stakeholders to intervene between the company and host communities but to no avail.
According to the statement; “HEOSL has become an existential threat to the peace and security of the Local Government, breeding palpable anger and tension in communities where they operate in Isoko South.
Advertisement.
“We have severally made effort to intervene and foster robust company-community relations, but the company has proven to be most untrustworthy, treacherous and unreliable.
“As Chief Security Officer of the Local Government, I am therefore left with no choice than to call on the Honourable Minister of Petroleum and relevant authorities of the Federal and State Governments to immediately withdraw the services of HEOSL as operators of the OML 30 asset. It is the only way to regain host communities confidence in the exploration of crude oil in their areas.”
“HEOSL can no longer be trusted to manage the asset. The earlier they are kicked out, the better for the peace and security of the Local Government,” Ikpokpo stressed.
READ ALSO: Remove ‘spurious’ items, proposal for worship centre from 2021 budget – NLC tells Akwa Ibom govt
