The Delta Government has restated its resolve to get major oil companies operating in the state to stop gas flaring in 15 months time.

The government's commitment was conveyed on Monday in Asaba by Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan at a stakeholders' forum on climate change and the development of a low carbon economy.

Uduaghan said oil companies which still believed that they could not stop gas flaring would be passing a vote of no confidence in the National Gas Master Plan.

"It is possible to get a commitment from Chevron to stop gas flaring within 15 months; it is possible to get a commitment from Shell.

"But if you (oil companies) say you cannot stop gas flaring, it amounts to a vote of no confidence in the National Gas Master Plan in which you are stakeholders," he said.

Uduaghan also renewed the resolve to tackle the issue of climate change because of the derivable benefits.

"Climate change is here with us; we have to tackle it. It has a lot of opportunities for us in the Niger Delta and in Delta State.

"For years there have been arguments and quarrels on other issues, but these have not solved the problem. The era in which we are now is to deal with these issues.

"Today, our farms, our rivers, our waters have been polluted. These are major causes of the Niger Delta crisis; environmental pollution, we want to deal with it now," he said.

NAN