Dodo River Communities in Amatu II community, Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State were agog with celebration recently as oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Ltd (CNL) handed over a 45-bed cottage hospital facility to the state government.
The hospital facility is rated as one of the biggest healthcare facilities with a state-of-the-art equipment in the state.
It was built by the Dodo River Communities Development Association (DRDA), one of the regional development committees under the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) a development master plan among the Bayelsa State government, Dodo River communities and CNL.
Chairman of (DRDA), Mr. Berry Negerese, during the handing over ceremony of the Amatu II Cottage Hospital facility to the Bayelsa government for proper management, described the GMoU as a veritable instrument for meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the Niger Delta region.
Mr. Negerese stressed the importance of the GMoU to a sustainable development of the communities in the Niger Delta, noting that the community engagement model pioneered by Chevron has engendered capacity building for the communities to own and operate their development process in a participatory and transparent manner.
He thanked the Bayelsa State governor, Chief Seriake Dickson, for the successful takeover of the hospital for proper integration into the healthcare scheme of the state.
Elated Negerese further commended the efforts of the House of Representatives Member representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency, Chief Fredrick Yeiteimone Agbedi and other stakeholders in facilitating the successful takeover of the facility by the state.
He explained that the 45-bed hospital has a medical laboratory, pharmacy store, operating room, doctors, nurses and medical corps’ lodge, delivery room, post-natal room, functional water system, water ambulance, 50KVA generating plant with a generator house and a jetty, adding that the hospital is also connected to the community’s 100 KVA generator.
Meanwhile, CNL General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs (PGPA), Mr. Esimaje Brikinn, has lauded the state government’s action as a progression of the GMoU and a way of helping Nigeria meet its Sustainable Development Goals.
“This project addresses one of the three targets of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is a validation of the sustainability plan of the GMoU,” he said.
According to the CNL boss, since 2005 when CNL pioneered the GMoU as a community-led participatory partnership model for community engagement and sustainable development, the company has continued to contribute billions of naira to the Regional Development Committees (RDCs) to execute hundreds of projects in the communities through a governance model that ensures transparency and accountability.
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“The projects, which cover the areas of education, health, housing, scholarships, economic development, etc., have benefitted over 600, 000 people and assisted in enhancing the quality of life in these communities,” he noted.
Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, who was represented by the state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, applauded Chevron for contributing to the improved medical care in the Dodo River communities of the state.
He said the state government would ensure that doctors and medical corp members were always posted to the hospital to ensure the availability of capable and adequate hands to run the hospital, adding that officials from the state Ministry of Health would constantly visit the facility to improve services.
Dignitaries at the ceremony included Chairman, House of Reps Committee on Gas, Hon. Agbedi and the Pere of Iduwini Kingdom, HRM Joel Ibane, who lauded Chevron, urged the communities to protect the facility and medical personnel posted there.
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