As Total E & P Nigeria Limited (TEPNG) strives to fulfil her Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) commitment to all her host communities, the oil firm has expressed regret that it cannot operate peacefully in Rumuekpe in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Deputy Managing Director TEPNG, Francois Le-cocq who expressed the displeasure while commissioning some projects executed by the firm,urged the people of Rumuekpe to embraces peace and work for the development of their community.
The Total E & P Nigeria Limited commissioned five projects identified to enhance communal well being of the people.The Projects include, Community Primary School Rumuekpe, Community Secondary Rumuekpe, Ovelle Nvokohia Ancestral home ,Two blocks of open shops in Ovelle Nvokohia and two blocks of lock up shops in Imogu Nvokohia
He noted that the property were nominated by the community within the scope of 2012 to 2016 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TEPNG,
Le-cocq informed that each of the projects was conceived to address specific deficiencies in social infrastructure within the community, adding that it was the reason why the model of implementation was skewed towards the communities nominating and executing projects that satisfy their peculiar social and environmental needs.
The Managing Director noted that the firm was aware of the scale of devastation of social and physical infrastructure within the Rumuekpe communities as a result of the past communal crisis, stating that this caused children to attend schools at neighbouring communities which are about ten kilometers, aways stating that the commissioned projects would solve the problem.
The TEPNG boss described peace as the oxygen that nurtures development at all levels and tasked the communities where it operates to provide peaceful ambience for the company to carry out her business in order to earn the resources to fulfil her MoU commitments.
He regretted that while the company was striving to fulfill her MoU commitments to the communities in Rumuekpe, the firm has not enjoyed the envisaged peaceful ambience to operate, adding that TEPNG physical assets and facilities through these communities are persistently impaired through vandalism.
According to him,” these acts, caused disruptions to her operations,weaken the performance of the facilities and inflict huge financial losses to the company”.
” But most importantly, these acts adversely degrade the environment and sources of livelihood. It will be to our mutual interests for the community and the company to observe the tenets underpinning the commitments taken by all parties to the MoU.
We need to operate our facilities without hindrance in order to generate the resources to fulfil the MoU commitments”, he said.
In his address, Rumuekpe Community Representative in TEPNG,Richard Ajuru Commended the firm for her policies that have been developmental, environmental and people friendly.
Ajure noted that among the four multi nationals operating in the community,Total E &P Limited has been outstanding and second to none,her operations have been smooth and peaceful.
He commended the management for the neutral and supportive role they played during the fratricidal crisis that decimated lives and property of unquantifiable value in the community between 2005 and 2009.