Plateau Government Inaugurates Panel To Probe Chlorine Gas Explosion

Plateau State government, on Friday, inaugurated
an 11-man panel to investigate the cause of the
chlorine gas explosion which killed eight people
and left over 100 hospitalised in Jos, the state
capital.
The incident occurred on Saturday, July 25, at the
Laminga Water Treatment Plant in Jos.
Mr Rufus Bature, Secretary to the State
Government (SSG), inaugurated the panel on behalf
of Governor Simon Lalong.
The governor said that the members were carefully
selected because of the technical nature of the
investigation.
He stressed that their mandate was to identify the
cause of the incident, determine safety standard at
the plant and proffer solution against future
occurrence.
Other terms of reference include "to ascertain
whether or not safety standards and regulations
exist at the plant; to find out if there are
encroachments into the treatment plant and advise
appropriately and to ascertain the number of
people affected, among other things."
He said that the panel has four weeks to submit its
report and advised the members to take the
assignment seriously.
Responding, Mr Jimmy Cheto, chairman of the
panel, expressed appreciation to the governor for
the mandate given them and pledged that they
would be diligent in carrying out the investigation.
"We have lost a lot of lives through insurgency and
we should not lose lives again through
carelessness," he said.