Shell donates N100m projects to Bayelsa
By Bisi Olaniyi, Yenagoa
Published: Friday, 20 Jul 2007
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, has handed over the N100m completed sustainable community development projects, to five of the estuaries of Amatu field communities in Bayelsa State.

The Anglo/Dutch oil giant also lamented the shutdown since January 2006, of its operations in the Southern Swamp District 2, made of Tunu, Opukushi, Ogbotobo, Benisede and Seibou fields in Bayelsa state, resulting in a daily production loss of about 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

SPDC‘s Asset Manager, Mr. Chidi Izuwah, disclosed this at the inauguration of the projects to the benefiting communities of Azamabiri, Amatu-2, Bilabiri-2, Bisangbene and Letugbene, at the Creek Motel, Yenagoa on Thursday.

The event had in attendance, Bayelsa‘s Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Sylvia Brigidi; the Special Adviser to the Bayelsa Governor on Community Relations, Chief Christian Okoloba; and the SPDC‘s Relations Manager, Bayelsa, Mr. Funkakpo Fufeyin, among others.

The projects, whose keys were handed over to the representatives of the communities, included classroom blocks with restroom facilities and headmasters‘ offices, as well as teachers‘ quarters.

Shell‘s asset manager further stated that the projects handed over were in part fulfilment of the Memorandum of Understanding.

He said, though, the projects were completed sometime ago, they could not be handed over due to logistics, security and access problems.

Following formal presentations by the benefiting communities, that they needed to put the projects to use, the multinational then agreed to jointly have the handover ceremony in the state capital.

Izuwah also disclosed that community contractors, using community-based labour and other resources, executed all the projects.

Despite the production challenges, he said, SPDC had embarked on many sustainable community development projects, as part of its re-entry strategy, hoping that the new approach would achieve the mutual expectations and strengthen the existing cooperation between the communities and the oil firm.