Community leader tasks oil firms on development

A community leaderin Eket, Akwa IbomState, Chief Emmanuel Eshiet, has urged oil companies in the area to emulate the development strategy adopted by Frontier Oil Limited in its host communities.He said that the oil company took the needs of the communities into consideration in the formulation and implementation of its social responsibility programmes.Eshiet, who is the village head of Ebana community in Eket District, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket.He said that some projects initiated by Mobil Producing Nigeria, Total E&P and Shell Petroleum in the oil-bearing communities in Eket federal constituency were yet to be completed.He urged the companies to execute projects that are beneficial to the communities, explaining that some of their projects failed because they were imposed on the communities.NAN recalled that Frontier, an indigenous oil firm and operator of Uquo Marginal fields, inaugurated a water project in Ebana community on Dec. 14.The water scheme, which has a 10,000-litre storage capacity and installed with a treatment plant for the more than 4,000 people in the area, was built after an agreement on its utility was reached with the community.Eshiet said that if the oil firms would adopt the policy of allowing communities to make inputs when formulating programmes, frictions in oil-producing areas would be minimised.He assured Frontier management of the cooperation of the community in its activities and advised it to continue its people-oriented services.
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