Communities hosting oil exploration companies in Imo and Abia have pledged to deliver people-centred projects in line with the dictates of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The National President of the Host Communities Development Board of Trustees and Settlors (HCDTS), Dr Benjamin-Style Tamaranebi, made the pledge at a town hall engagement for host communities, organised by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in Owerri on Wednesday.
Tamaranebi said that with a constitutional contribution of three per cent from settlors (oil companies), host communities could embark on projects by themselves, despite pending challenges.
He called on the representatives of host communities to take development to their people, in line with the PIA.
“A lot is happening, host communities have started executing projects and the people are the beneficiaries of the PIA”, he said.
The Group Chief Executive of NUPRC, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, described the three per cent contribution from settlors as “a legal requirement, not a favour”.
According to him, investments in education, healthcare and critical infrastructure are required of host communities.
Komolafe, represented by Mr Daniel Atama, advised the host communities to safeguard oil facilities and installations and approach the NUPRC with legitimate complaints, if any.
The National Secretary of HCDTS, Eze Emmanuel Assor, said that host communities had patiently cooperated with settlors, in spite of the delay in the payment of the three per cent contribution since 2023.
Assor urged the settlors to expedite payment as a way of reciprocating the patience and tolerance of the communities.
Also, Chairman of host communities in Abia, Chief Maxwell Wabara, urged settlors and the NUPRC to “go back to the drawing board and ensure that host communities are well taken care of rather than marginalised”.
Mr Stanley Okwuosa of the Imo Local Government Service Commission called for increased transparency in the implementation of the PIA.
Okwuosa, an environmentalist, urged the NUPRC and the settlors to publish their annual budgets for host communities from 2022 to date, in the interest of transparency”.
WSN confirmed that settlors were absent from the meeting.
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