Community warns Shell, contractors over pipeline project

THE people of Boutubo Community in
Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, are
spoiling for a showdown with Shell Petroleum
Development Company, and its contractors, over
alleged marginalisation and neglect in the repair
of the Trans Ramos pipeline in their area. Chairman of the community, Mr. Afidi Ebiarede,
who addressed newsmen in Warri, yesterday,
accused the contracting firm and its sub-
contractor of undermining his community in the
execution of the project. He said that the companies had concluded plan to
commence work without the community’s
Freedom To Operation, FTO, and due consultation
with its leaders as was the norm in such projects,
warning that the plot could truncate the repair of
the pipeline, which conveys crude to the Forcados Terminal of Shell.
Ebiarede said: “It is wrong for the company to
carry on without consulting the leadership of my
community and the executive as it is the norm in
such projects in the Niger Delta. The way it is now,
we cannot guarantee the safety of the companies’ staff and equipment if they carry on without first
obtaining the FTO in our community.”