Bayelsa State Government has clarified that its stance of being involved in the preparation of Global Memorandum of Understanding ((GMoUs) is to protect the interest of communities that enter into such agreements with corporate organizations operating in the state.
The State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, made the clarification at a meeting with Traditional Rulers from Brass Local Government Area in his office in Yenagoa.
He assured that Government would do everything within its reach to ensure the successful implementation of the agreement between the Brass Fertilizer Company and the people of Brass.
The Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo said government’s intervention in the contract was to protect the people from being shortchanged rather than scuttle the take-off ofthe project as speculated in the New Media by mischief makers.
In a press release by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Doubara Atasi, he reminded the people that conflicts in most communities were traceable to particularly oil companies’ failure in honouring memoranda of understanding with their host communities.
Accordingly, he said henceforth all such MoUs must be signed with the involvement of the state government in order to avert situations where a company would renege on its agreements and promote peace in the communities.
“Now on the issue of companies not recognizing communities, there is a rule/law that states that if you are not a party to an agreement, you cannot acquire right and incur liability
“If there is an agreement and there is no third party that witnessed the agreement, it becomes a problem, because when they (companies) overwhelm you, there is nothing you can do.
“So, what government is trying to do is to put an eye and watch and not that it wants to take over the running of
MoUs.
“Rather, government wants to ensure that if a company is coming to operate, for example, in Twon-Brass, we must know what the company is coming to do there and content of the agreement they sign with the community.
“The government is not scuttling your MoU with companies. If government is in the know of what you have signed with them, it can then force the companies to implement what they have agreed to do”, the Deputy Governor noted.
While also highlighting the role of the traditional institution in society, Senator Ewhrudjakpo urged royal fathers, local government council chairmen and other community leaders to step up efforts at assisting security personnel by profiling visitors to various communities in the state.

By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa