The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) Gbenga Komolafe, has maintained that the Host Communities Development Trust would help to positively curb restiveness in oil communities areas and offer an enabling environment for operators to thrive.
Komolafe who was represented by who stated this during a sensitisation programmes organized by NUPRC in Akure, Ondo state capital said the Trust was put in place to strengthen ties between host communities, oil companies and other stakeholders to boost oil production in the country.
Komolafe who was represented by the Warri Regional Coordinator, Mr Benjamin Ogunnubi, said the Trust will ensure and sustain peace and harmony between the oil communities and oil companies in their day-to-day management
He said “One of the expectations of the government for setting up the Trust is that they will appease the host communities, they will make the host communities become part of the business.
“This will also create a sense of belonging for the host communities so that in return the host communities will help to protect oil and gas facilities in their areas.
“There is a provision in the PIA Act that says that any host community that destroys the facility of oil companies, the amount for replacing the facility will be deducted from the money that should go to that community.”
Speaking during the sensitisation programme, lead consultant and facilitator for the Post Development Sensitisation Forum, Dr Francis Adegwue, said the essence of the HCDT is to integrate oil-bearing communities into the value chain and effectively cater to the development needs of impacted communities.
He said the Host Communities Fund initiative would guarantee seamless operation, boost investor confidence, and provide an enabling environment for the sustainable development of the country’s hydrocarbon resources.
He said “The sensitisation forum is focused on creating an awareness of what the commission is doing by way of implementing the post-community development provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
“The sensitisation programme is supposed to create an awareness to provide communication, information and to educate the people who will be implementing the act in the host communities and that will include the oil companies, who are the settlors, and the members of the Board of Trustees who will be selected based on consultation between the settlors and the members of the host communities.
“Also, the sensitization will include members of the management committees, members of the advisory committees and also members of the host communities including their representatives, traditional rulers and those who will be participating in the sensitisation programmes.
“The essence of the workshop is to ensure that everybody understands their role and that this money that will be made available to the Trust, the Host Communities Development Trust does what it suppose to do.
“So, the programme is to properly educate them on what their roles will be and also to create awareness on what are the expectations of government with respect to this post community development trust.
“Our government expects that there should be some reciprocity, that by providing resources for the development of the host communities, they will also create an enabling environment for the oil companies to work peacefully, harmonious environment because the essence of the act is to provide resources for the development of the host communities and put those resources in the hands of the host communities themselves so that they will use it for their own development.
Speaking, one of the members of the host communities, the Secretary of Amalgamation of Ilaje Ugbo Coastal Communities Association (AMAICOMMA), Omoyele Kehinde AMAICOMMA said the sensitization will go a long way to educate the host communities on the PIA Act
He said the sensitization will help “to educate the host communities in the PIA Act that is already in the pipeline, the implementation, the benefits therein and the dos and don’ts and what can be done to engineer development to the host communities in particular.
“The bottom line is to get people informed of what the law says and the role of the set laws and the regulators in this arrangement.
“This is an arrangement by an umpire who is to administer to ensure that every party involved in this arrangement keeps to what the law says, abides by the rules, and regulations so that the purpose of chapter three of the PIA can be fully achieved and the benefits therein accruable to the host communities.”
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