Funding stalls one million free gas initiative

Non-availability of fund has stalled the state government’s initiative to distribute one million cylinder gas to households across the state.

State Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources that is saddled with the responsibility, said this to explain why only about 20,000 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders have so far been distributed till date.

The initiative, which began in 2013, was on the behest of Governor Babatunde Fashola to discourage the use of firewood in Lagos households.

Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Taofeek Tijani, at the 2015 Ministerial Press Briefing in Alausa, on Tuesday, said paucity of funds remains the main challenge affecting the initiative, even as he reiterated the state government’s commitment to ensure residents embrace the safer ways of cooking.

It was gathered that the ministry would require the sum of N1.5b to distribute cylinder gas to one million homes in the next five years.

Permanent ‎Secretary, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resource, Iyabo Obasa, explained that the N150 million fund provided by the state government for the free distribution of the cylinders could only provide for 20,000 homes. Obasa said the ministry had distributed 20,000 3kg and 6kg cylinders across the 57 Local Government and Local Council Development Areas till date.

On other efforts to eradicate use of firewood because of its chronic health risk, Tijani said the state government, through the Eko Gas Scheme, would continue to carry out skid plant deployment and LPG reticulation in government owned estates, “if the funds are available”.

In his overview of work done in the last one year, the commissioner said 172 public schools and 11 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across the state‎ had been powered in its Solar Power Project.

On the efforts to generate independent power supply in the state, the General Manager, Lagos State Electricity Board, Damilola Ogunbiyi said the state had greatly reduced crime rate and fostered a conducive environment ‎for economic growth through constant supply of electricity.

Ogunbiyi added that the state, through its five Independent Power Plants, about 400 generators had been disconnected from government institutions. She added that the state had the largest number of well-maintained public lighting network in the entire country, covering over 316km of public lighting in 227 locations and over 400km roads and streets across the state.