Bayelsa Agency urges Daewoo to partner with govt

THE Bayelsa State Partnership Agency has called on the management of Daewoo Construction Company to foster greater partnership with government and the agency to enable government look into their challenges and proffer solution to improve their operations and shore up the internally generated revenue of the state.

The Director-General of the Agency, Mr. Stanley Braboke Enaibagha, spoke with journalists shortly after a familiarisation visit to the State Project Manager of Daewoo in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State Capital.

He was emphatic that since the Governor Seriake Dickson led Restoration Government came on board, security situation had improved tremendously, and as such the agency is delivering on its mandate to build peace around operational areas occupied by oil multinationals, construction firms and in the various communities in the state.

“The agency is established as the one stop desk to build peace in the state, our stand is zero tolerance to impasse between oil bearing communities and oil multinationals, even as we emphasized peace as a vital ingredient for growth and development” the Director-General submitted.

Said he “The agency as a link bridge is established to appraise all complaints from communities, oil multinationals and construction companies and if they are germane, it would act appropriately without fear or favour.

On Daewoo’s option to shut operation due to constrain and challenges, Enaibagha assured that recommendation would be made to the governor on the issue, even as he reiterated the efficacy of partnership with government would go a long way to resolve their concerns.

He explained that government was investing in education of the youths to avert restiveness and militancy which they took to due to illiteracy, stressing that in doing that, the youths would be employable.

“Engaged youths do not have time to engage in illegal activities in society,” he said.

The Director-General advised the management of Daewoo to send a representative to the joint desk that would inundate the agency with their challenges and concerns and not necessarily when problems emanated.

He reiterated that on mutual ground, the management of Daewoo was boosting the IGR in the state and providing employment to Bayelsans thereby contributing to the good health of the economy, while government has sustained commitment in creating a conducive atmosphere for business to thrive in the state.

Earlier, the State Project Manager, Nak Choi had told the Director-General that they have sustained their social responsibility by engaging over 300 Bayelsans, and contributed to the development of over 20 communities in the state.

“If we decide to shutdown operation owing to high cost of recurrent expenditure, workers would be retrenched and it’s capable of heightening insecurity and a drastic reduction of revenue accruing to the state.

Chio expressed the company regret that their recurrent expenditure is high and to sustain it without handling any projects would amount to waste of fund, and that gave rise to the option of shutting down operation in the state.

Meanwhile, the Director-General also paid a familiarization visit to the Directorate State Security (DSS) and other sister agencies in the state, lauded their resolve to synergise with the agency to provide security in the various communities, particularly host communities to construction and oil multinationals in the state.

He reiterated the Governor was apt in establishing the agency to broker harmonious partnership between government and firms operating in the state, stressing that “no meaningful development would thrive in an atmosphere of anarchy, rancor and acrimony.

Enaibagha, at the Shell Petroleum Development Company office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State said the oil multinational’s resolve to promote peace where their operation is domicile in the state is a welcome development, even as he thanked SPDC for assigning Mr. Nengi Brown as their representative on the joint desk of the agency.