The Bayelsa State government on Monday said that it would not relent until it uncovers the cause of the July 9, 2015, pipeline explosion that killed 14 persons in Agip oil field in the state.

The government noted that with the support of relevant agencies in the state, it had launched an investigation into the tragedy with the aim of preventing future occurrences.

This was made known the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Environment, Iniruo Will, who also said that the state government was committed carrying out an exhaustive investigation into the incident.

He said officials of the state Ministry of Environment, oil Industry regulators and the Police were providing support to the government in its bid to discover what caused the blast.

“The governor had made clear commitments to ensure that there is full accountability in this matter and there will be comprehensive investigations, there is no reason to think that either the state government or indeed the governor will back down on that,” he said.

He said that the magnitude of the disaster had shown a lot of areas where laxity on the part of some agencies was immediately apparent.

He said that the state government was in the meantime putting in place immediate measures to ensure that the tragedy does not reoccur.

However, he insisted that those found wanting in the incident would be appropriately sanctioned.

“One thing I can assure you of is that this is not a matter that that can go away just like that, the state government is fully prepared and the governor is committed to ensuring that the right thing is done. And we will expect that all parties, all stakeholders all concerned would also play their part,” he said.

He noted that the attention the issue was already generating globally would not allow the matter to be swept under the carpet.

He equally explained that the state had unveiled a policy tagged, “Lives before oil’ to ensure that safety standards are adhered to strictly by all parties involved.

It will be recalled that a regulatory official of the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, and 12 maintenance crew members were amongst the victims that died in the blast.