Friday, March 29, 2024

We will fight illegal refineries in Rivers with technology – State govt

The Rivers State Government has commenced moves to discourage public patronage of illegal refineries in the state.

This comes as the issues of artisanal refineries also known as Kpo fire continues on the increase across the state.

The Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Dr Peter Medee on Wednesday disclosed that his ministry was developing a digital application to enable players in the industry buy petroleum products only from government-approved sources.

The commissioner, who acknowledged that there is little the state government can do using security agencies to fight the illegal refiners, said the app when developed would help the authorities discourage patronage of the illegal refineries.

“As you know we don’t have control over the security agencies, all the things that have to do with this sector are under the Exclusive Legislative List. So what we try to do is to see how we can take the market from them”.

“Presently we are developing an app in the ministry which will be able to show where you buy your product from. If you look you will understand that Rivers State is a big hub in terms of industrial activities and all of them demand petroleum products to power their engines and if you control those people buying these products to ensure that they buy from legal sources, you would have taken about 30% of the market away from these artisanal refiners.

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The commissioner also explained that with the new digital system, electronic receipts will be issued to the buyers.

“They are expected to declare that receipt at any point to show where they bought the product from. If they don’t declare that, it means they bought their products from the roadside thereby patronizing these artisanal refiners’’.

Doctor Medee further disclosed that his ministry is in talks with the various unions in the petroleum industry to ensure that the goal is achieved.

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