Nigeria imports 350 million litres of ethanol annually — Chief Enekwa
By Our Reporte
Enekwa, who disclosed this in Enugu added that D-Hap was the only ethanol factory in the whole of South East and South South of Nigeria.
He noted that the development attracted a grant of pioneer status by the Federal government.
The CEO hinted that there are only five companies that produces ethanol in Nigeria.
Enekwa explained that the importance of Ethanol cannot be over emphasised as it is used in pharmaceutical, cosmetics and beverage industries.
He, however, said that D- Hap produces edible ethanol using molasses (sugar) which is mixed with water and yeast, fermented at controlled temperature before being distilled into ethanol.
He said that the firm which is located in Ituku, Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State
employed over 100 workers who were mostly from the communities around the firm.
The CEO explained that there were over a thousand indirect beneficiaries from the company either as raw material suppliers or finished products buyers.
Recall that the residents of Nomeh community in Nkanu East LGA had during a protest accused the company of polluting their only source of water with industrial wastes, which they claimed was discharged into it.
The chairman of the company said that the firm was not responsible for the allegation leveled against its operations.
Subsequently, the company’s production manager, Mr F.M. Okeke, emphasised that the company was not responsible for the water pollution in Nomeh community, stressing that its generated wastes were properly handled.
Okeke disclosed that the wastes generated by the firm were disposed at the state government’s approved waste dump site.
The Production Manager then expressed surprise that neighbouring Nomeh community was complaining of waste discharge, whereas the host community, Ituku and two other communities before Nomeh had no such issue.
“Is it not quite surprising that it is only faraway Nomeh is the only one complaining, while Ituku, which is the host community is not saying anything about environmental pollution.
“That is why we (D-Hap) are very skeptical about the protest and agitation of the people.
“In 2021, there is a pollution, which affected the four communities of Ituku, Ozalla, Agbogugu and Nomeh. After that incident, we took every measure to prevent future occurrence.
“But now, only Nomeh community, which incidentally is the farest, is shouting and protesting about environmental pollution, unlike what was the case in 2021”, Okeke said.
He however added that the company had commenced investigation into the cause of the said pollution.
In his reaction, the Director of Administration, Ministry of Environment, Mr Matthew Abia, said that he was directed by Enugu state government to shut down the firm because of the protest.
According to him, the decision was reached at the State Executive Council meeting and accused the company of intentionally discharging the waste in Nomeh community.
While reacting on the closure, the CEO of the firm said that there was no prior information from the ministry before the action..
