TotalEnergies Charges HCDTs on Safety of Facilities in Rivers
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
The management of TotalEnergies has charged members of Host Communities Development Trusts (HCDTs) in Rivers State, to ensure the safety of its facilities in the state, as they continue to relate with their host communities in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The oil multinational company gave the charge at the weekend in Port Harcourt, during the closing ceremony of a capacity building training organised for members of TotalEnergies HCDTs.
In his address, the Managing Director, TotalEnergies, Mr Matthieu Bouyer, said since the nomination into the Board of Trustees (BoT), the company has held several engagements and orientation meetings with members of the HCDTs on operationalisation of the Trust.
Addressing participants at the training, Bouyer, represented by the Executive Director, JV Asset, Mr Obi Imemba, said many of them had been fully funded.
The MD who noted that the engagement is the first-of-its-kind in the industry, said operationalising the requirements of the Act with respect to the trust has been a challenging process for the company.
Bouyer charged the participants, saying henceforth, they should take over the management of all sustainable community development projects and programmes in line with the PIA.
“You also have the responsibility to ensure the safeguarding of TotalEnergies facilities and operations within your communities,” he said.
He commended TotalEnergies partners for their support and collaboration through the entire process of the operationalisation of the trusts.
In his remarks, the Rivers State Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Amadi Charles, commended TotalEnergies for its effective engagement with host communities in the state.
The commissioner, said the state government was pleased with TotalEnergies for setting pace for other companies to emulate in terms of engagement with host communities.
“The state government is very grateful, especially to TotalEnergies for organising this capacity training for members of HCDTs.
“The government is also happy with TotalEnergies for setting the pace, because settlors in Rivers State, most of them are lagging behind and I think this is an opportunity for them to learn from the good steps of Total. In line with PIA, I think TotalEnergies has actually done a lot for their HCDTs,” Amadi added
TotalEnergies had organised the week-long training through a human capacity development provider, Philip Consulting, for members of the HCDTs, with the aim to prepare them with the necessary skills to effectively carryout their various responsibilities as allocated.
