The Federal Government on Thursday innaugurated two committees for the development of Bitumen in the country.
This is as the government charged the 18 winners of the first round of Bitumen blocks bidding process to make the country exporter of Bitumen.
Nigeria is said to have the second largest depost in the world with an estimated 42 billion barrels of Bitumen.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, at a meeting with the concessionaires, urged them to live up to expectations by complying with the terms of engagement and relevant sections of the mining act whilst taking cognisance of the host communities and seeking their cooperation.
“ We want to know for instance as you move forward, how much of taxes you are paying, the royalties you are remitting, the local value addition that you are putting in place, the local employment generation or the multiplier effect and then the impact on your host communities. I will advise that you endeavour to engage your host communities and get their buy-in through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and other efforts you can make to ensure seamless operations which will culminate in maximum beneficiation for you as investors, the communities and government”, the Minister added.
