*Simbi Wabote
Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Oil Producing Host Communities of Nigeria, HostCom, have pledged its readiness to support and work closely with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, to ensure the sustenance of the Board’s projects and peaceful operations.
Bayelsa State Chairman of HostCom, HRH Boma Albert, made the commitment during a visit to the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote, at the Board’s headquarters in Yenagoa.
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 appealed to the Board to include members of the association on its skill acquisition trainings within and outside the oil and gas sector.
“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.
“We also appeal for continuous engagement between the association and the Board, so as to extract more benefits from various Nigerian Content initiatives.”
Responding, Engr. Simbi Wabote, said 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.
Wabote represented by the General Manager, Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination, Dr. Ginah O. Ginah, who pledged the Board’s readiness to support the group, explained that NCDMB also created the Community Contractors Finance Scheme as part of the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund.
He explained that qualified firms can access as much as N20million, for use in funding valid contracts in the oil and gas industry, with a maximum tenure of five years, at five percent 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.
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