Chief Williams Mkpah, the transitional Chairman of Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom has appealed to ExxonMobil to provide electricity and pipe borne water as its Cooperate Social Responsibility to host community.
Mkpah made the appeal in an interview with newsmen in Ibeno local government area of the state on Wednesday, saying that ExxonMobil have forsaken the community.
He decried that ExxonMobil could not provide essential amenities to their host community in spite of providing conducive environment to the multinational company to operate.
Mkpah explained that the multinational company was yet to impact on the life of the host community which they operate since they change their name to ExxonMobil.
He explained that the council owed Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC), the sum of about N38 million as electricity bill.
“In this dry season, there is no electricity and pipe borne water in the whole of Ibeno local government area.
“As I speak with you now, the entire local government does not have light. We owed PHEDC bill of about N38 million and I can’t afford to pay.
“ExxonMobil has not made any effort to say as part of their CSR, let me go to the aid of these people but they are not interested.
He however, lamented that the multinational company in Ibeno community was not living up to its expectation to the host community, saying that as the Council Boss scored ExxonMobil below average in their CSR.
“ExxonMobil is not doing well for the community that is hosting them.
We are not happy about it, so we are protecting them in serious pains,’’ Mkpah lamented.
Mkpah decried that the acid rain caused by oil exploration by the multinational company had destroyed the ecosystem of the environment as well as roofing sheets in all buildings of the community.
“As a local government hosting multinational oil company, we are yet to be impacted by ExxonMobil who is in our domain.
“One thing we have done for ExxonMobil and they cannot pay us for, is the peaceful environment we have offer them to do whatever they are doing,’’ he said.
He noted that the impact of oil spill had cause hardship to the people of the community, saying that the community use to have people of 100 to 120 years old but since the advent of oil, the oldest man in Ibeno do not live up to 70 years oil.
Mkpah called on the state government to come to their aids, saying that he would officially write to Gov. Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom to bring the multinational company up and expose their heels in the state.
“It is like an open ended situation whereby the community will be compelled to fight and cause trouble before they will get their rights. This is very pathetic.
“I think this government has a listen ears. I will certainly do a letter to the Governor and he has to do something about it,’’ Mkpah said.
No comments:
Post a Comment