UNICEM Invests N249m On Projects, Aid

The United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM) in Calabar says it has invested about N249m in the execution of projects and giving of financial aids to indigent students of its host community at the Greenland field Mfamosing Akamkpa Local Government of the State  to fulfill its corporate social responsibility.
Managing Director of the company, Mr. Olivier Lenior, disclosed this at a town hall meeting with stakeholders where 25 indigent students of tertiary institutions got N3.5m from UNICEM as an aids to enable them pursue various academic programmes.
The MD pointed out that in the secondary school category N3.2m has been disbursed to cater for 150 beneficiaries while N1.5m has been spent on mentorship/teaching support, stressing that N6.8m has been invested so far to take care of adult literacy with over 300 persons as beneficiaries while School Base Management Committee (SBMC) got N300,000.
The economic empowerment micro credit and enterprise got N2.7m to train 300 persons to acquire skill in micro enterprise adding that N1.5m was spent on business development while N2.5m is spent to cater for corporative societies development.
According to him, seven million naira was invested to grand micro credit to 15 cooperatives and 135 persons have so far benefited from the scheme stressing that compensation and re-settlement got N112m which was paid to take care of that aspect between 2006 and 2012.
The UNICEM boss maintained that job search / placement training got N1.8m with N2m spent to train local contractors, skill acquisition received N8.4m, five boreholes gulped N17m, eye-care programme N1.9m, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition hypertension and other health related programmes got N10m.
He said infrastructural development like markets stalls got a boost with N45 million, community road rehabilitation received N12.4 million and community social center N74 million with over 60 local women benefitting from the programme with 300 youths engaged. N1.5m was spent on classroom block renovation while communitydirect infrastructural development support got N45 million.
On employment  the MD averred that UNICEM has employed 475 direct staff with 244 Cross Riverians,  of which, 32 hail from Akamkpa, 31 Akpabuyo and Calabar Municipality Local Government area 38 indigenes stressing that the company has over 1300 causal staff who were locally sourced.
Mr. Lenior said that Cross River State got N304m as PAYE tax from the company and had spent N375m on Rovers, noting that N10 million went on the sponsorship of Cross River State unity cup competition while Road maintenance gulped N19 million and evacuation                        of roads N5 billion.
He said that N61m was spent on levies for local tenements rate in Akamkpa  while lease payment in Akpabuyo  up to N26m.  Abi-Mfam N41m and Ekong Anaku gulped N20 million.