FG begins implementation of Kalu committee report on refineries

THE Federal Government has com menced the implementation of the report of the Task Force on Refineries led by Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, less than a week after it submitted its report to President Goodluck Jonathan.
Other reports submitted alongside Kalu’s were that of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu-led Special Task Force on Petroleum Revenue and the Dotun Suleiman-led Special Task Force on Governance and Control in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other parastatals.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, told State House correspondents on Thursday that the president had set machinery in motion for the full implementation of the Task Forces’ reports beginning with that on refineries in order to boost domestic refining of products in order to create jobs.
He recalled that the president had already set March, 2013 deadline for the completion of the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) and complete rehabilitation of  refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri.
Abati noted that President Jonathan  commended the Kalu Task Force for the work it had done and also stressed the determination of his administration to put a stop to importation of fuel in the country.
The presidential spokesman revealed that President Jonathan had directed the Minister of Petroleum Resource, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke to look into the report with a view to evolving an action plan on the way forward and also directed that a technical report be prepared on how to get the refineries working.