Peace Obi
The leadership of the Bayelsa State Chapter of the Host Communities of Nigeria has pledged its readiness to support and work with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), to ensure the sustenance of the Board’s projects and peaceful operations in the state.
The association made the commitment when it paid a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote on Tuesday at the Board’s headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The State Chairman, HRH Boma Albert commended the Board for sitting one of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Park Schemes (NOGaPs) in Bayelsa, highlighting the benefits to include job creation for the indigenes and industrialization of their communities.
He stressed the need for continuous engagement between the association and the Board, so as to extract more benefits from various Nigerian Content initiatives.
He requested the Board to include members of the association on its skill acquisition training within and outside the oil and gas sector.
In his words, “being a capacity development agency, we plead with the Board to train our members that span over 500 communities on skill acquisition in various strata of the economy so as to ensure that more people can benefit.”
In his comments, the Executive Secretary, represented by the General Manager, Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination, Dr. Ginah O. Ginah pledged the Board’s readiness to support the group. He noted that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act recognizes the place of host communities and this informed NCDMB’s decision to develop and issue the Community Content Guidelines to protect their rights and privileges in oil and gas operations.
Ginah explained that NCDMB also created the Community Contractors Finance Scheme as part of the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund). He noted that qualified firms can access as much as Twenty Million Naira, for use in funding valid contracts in the oil and gas industry, with a maximum tenor of five years, at five per cent interest rate.
He added that the Board also provided for community contractors participation in the procurement of items in the second phase of the NOGaPS development.
“I must affirm the Board’s determination to continuously work with host community stakeholders and ensure that we support every good endeavours proposed to us,” Ginah said
Be the first to know when we publish an update
