Insurers to pay over N7 b claims on Dangote Sugar refinery fire mishap

Insurers to pay over N7 b claims on Dangote Sugar refinery fire mishap

Chuks Udo Okonta

Insurers are to pay over N7 billion claims on the fire incident that occurred at the Dangote Sugar refinery Inspen has learnt.

The General Manager, Group Insurance, Dangote Groups of Companies Raymond Akalonu, disclosed this at the 2012 annual conference of Risk Association of Nigeria (RISAN) in Lagos, adding that the incident occurred on July 7, 2012.

He noted that underwriters have been advised to make a reserve of over N7 billion, to indemnified the company on the loss caused by the inferno.

    He said: “In recent times, the recurring issues of fire devastation and the resultant disruption in business activities leading to losses in revenue and continuing costs are of immense concern to the business community, hence the appropriateness of this topic at this time.

“The fire incident at Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) , Benin Plant in 2008, which was settled at N8,010,579,302.00, the one in the Sugar refinery in Kenana Sudan in 1998 which was settled on arbitration for $108 million, the recent fire incident in Karachi & Lahore in Pakistan that killed about 315 people and led to a colossal loss of 2 big clothing facilities,  the recent Dangote Sugar refinery  fire incident (July 7, 2012) which underwriters have been advised to make a reserve of over N7 Billion naira are all case in point. Hurricane Sandy is on its way to causing untold billions of dollars in damage in the United States.”

He suggested that loss prevention audits should be conducted in organizations once a month, adding that loss prevention audits would provide management with a feedback mechanism that allows prompt detection of unsatisfactory conditions and initiation of appropriate corrective actions.

He said the best defense against loss is a series of interdependent programs created by management to identify and control fire, explosion, mechanical and electrical breakdown, and other perils, and to deal with the resulting emergency or contingency.

He called for entrenchment of feedback mechanizing in loss prevention, adding that without feedback, it is impossible to tell whether programs have been implemented as management intended. He noted that the effectiveness of these programs must be continuously monitored because the failure of one or more of them significantly increases the potential for loss.