Community in Bayelsa cry out over disturbing gas flares

Residents of Okolobiri community of Gbarain Kingdom in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State have expressed worry over the endless gas flaring from nearby Gbarain-Ubie Integrated oil and gas processing plant. The natives lamented that they are already facing serious health and environmental challenges. Paramount ruler of Okolobiri community, Engr Judah Sukuruowei, who spoke to a team from the Environmental Defenders Network, EDEN, an advocacy group led by its deputy director, Alagoa Morris, lamented that they are in a constant state of fear due to the vibrations emanating from the gas flaring plant. His words, “We have been experiencing serious vibration because of the gas flare in the neighbouring Obunagha community. The flaring volume is too high and it is affecting buildings in the community. Our people rely on our river water but now we don’t have water to drink because it is polluted by gas.
“There is no public portable water. Our roofing sheets are also affected just as our health is being affected; as we are inhaling the noxious gases.” Also speaking, the community women leader, Tuaweri Keniwenimo, said the volume of gas flaring has affected soil quality, crops and farming activities, causing hardship for women and children in the area. “This gas flaring is affecting us badly from the very beginning of the flaring in our environment. I am a mother so when it comes to matters like this I will talk a lot; because it is affecting our children seriously, including our crops and farming activities. Most women in the community built houses to support our husbands through farming. Due to the gas flaring crops are not as productive as they used to be. It is the same thing with fishing; fishing efforts are not yielding much again. Even the little catch, we discover they are tasteless,” she lamented.
In his remarks, the deputy director of EDEN, Comrade Alagoa Morris, slammed the relevant monitoring agencies including the National Oil Spill Detection and Remediation Agency, NOSDRA, and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA, for failing to monitor the companies responsible for the flaring. He urged the Federal Government to take up the matter with a view to addressing the negative impact of gas flaring in the Niger Delta communities.