DIRI CALLS FOR A REVIEW OF SURVEILLANCE CONTRACTS
By Admin
In a renewed bid to stop outsourcing of surveillance contracts to private individuals, the Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has called on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency review all oil surveillance contracts in the State.
Senator Diri made the call during a courtesy call by the House of Representatives Committee on the Nigerian Navy in Government House,
Yenagoa.
Represented by the Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ehwrudjakpo, he said that the activities of surveillance contractors have encouraged crime and criminality in the State.
According to him the Nigerian Navy and the Operation Delta Force (OPDS), Joint Task Force are well equipped to handle surveillance of pipelines in Bayelsa State and in the Niger Delta region.
He said: “We want the Federal Government including the Senate and House of Representatives to look into this surveillance contracts. As long as we are concerned, these surveillance contractors are encouraging crime and criminality. The Navy is well positioned to do that surveillance. I believe it will be good if we encourage the Navy and the Joint Task Force".
What has happened is that over the years instead of protection, the surveillance contractors have problem among themselves, one group goes ahead to blow up a pipeline and blames the other group. This is to make them look inefficient and the contract will be given to the other group".
"It is the Navy that is actually doing the surveillance. It will be an opportunity for us to review that so that the State Government will have a major role to play in the surveillance of the pipelines".
"These companies that have engaged the natives in surveillance contracts are having more benefits which they are not using to the benefit of the State but use to commit crime in the name of surveillance. They commit so much atrocity and I think the Navy is better positioned in the area of surveillance than the surveillance contractors”.
He maintained that the Navy was critical to the security and stability of the State as Bayelsa is more riverine and more deltaic than all other Niger Delta States".
Senator Diri hinted that the wealth and resources of the State were from the sea, assuring that government is committed to improving safety on the waterways in collaboration with security agencies, especially the Navy.
The Governor disclosed that the government has collaborated and supported the Navy which now has its Forward Operating Base in Agge and another base being planned for Ezetu and Oluasiri in the Eastern flank of Bayelsa.
Senator Diri enjoined the House Committee on Navy to appropriate adequate funds needed to equip the Navy to enable it carry out its constitutional mandate of protecting the nation’s territorial waters.
In his remarks, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on the Nigerian Navy, Hon. Yusuf Gadi said that they were in the State on oversight functions to interact and inspect naval facilities.
In a renewed bid to stop outsourcing of surveillance contracts to private individuals, the Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has called on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency review all oil surveillance contracts in the State.
Senator Diri made the call during a courtesy call by the House of Representatives Committee on the Nigerian Navy in Government House,
Yenagoa.
Represented by the Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ehwrudjakpo, he said that the activities of surveillance contractors have encouraged crime and criminality in the State.
According to him the Nigerian Navy and the Operation Delta Force (OPDS), Joint Task Force are well equipped to handle surveillance of pipelines in Bayelsa State and in the Niger Delta region.
He said: “We want the Federal Government including the Senate and House of Representatives to look into this surveillance contracts. As long as we are concerned, these surveillance contractors are encouraging crime and criminality. The Navy is well positioned to do that surveillance. I believe it will be good if we encourage the Navy and the Joint Task Force".
What has happened is that over the years instead of protection, the surveillance contractors have problem among themselves, one group goes ahead to blow up a pipeline and blames the other group. This is to make them look inefficient and the contract will be given to the other group".
"It is the Navy that is actually doing the surveillance. It will be an opportunity for us to review that so that the State Government will have a major role to play in the surveillance of the pipelines".
"These companies that have engaged the natives in surveillance contracts are having more benefits which they are not using to the benefit of the State but use to commit crime in the name of surveillance. They commit so much atrocity and I think the Navy is better positioned in the area of surveillance than the surveillance contractors”.
He maintained that the Navy was critical to the security and stability of the State as Bayelsa is more riverine and more deltaic than all other Niger Delta States".
Senator Diri hinted that the wealth and resources of the State were from the sea, assuring that government is committed to improving safety on the waterways in collaboration with security agencies, especially the Navy.
The Governor disclosed that the government has collaborated and supported the Navy which now has its Forward Operating Base in Agge and another base being planned for Ezetu and Oluasiri in the Eastern flank of Bayelsa.
Senator Diri enjoined the House Committee on Navy to appropriate adequate funds needed to equip the Navy to enable it carry out its constitutional mandate of protecting the nation’s territorial waters.
In his remarks, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on the Nigerian Navy, Hon. Yusuf Gadi said that they were in the State on oversight functions to interact and inspect naval facilities.
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