NAPIMS gives Mobil go ahead to execute N6bn special community assistance projects

The National Petro¬leum Investment Management Ser¬vices (NAPIMS) has approved that Mobil Produc¬ing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN), operator of the Nigerian Na¬tional Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)/MPN joint venture (JV), proceeds with its spe¬cial community assistance projects in Akwa Ibom State valued at N6 billion.
Eight local government areas of Akwa Ibom State would benefit from the pro¬gramme which is part of the company’s joint venture long term, multi-year N24.6 billion social investment package for the state which was previously announced last year.
The special community assistance projects will ad¬dress areas such as educa¬tion, health and capacity building.
Nolan O’ Neal, chairman and managing director of MPN, while comment¬ing on this development said, “We acknowledge the leadership of Akwa Ibom State government in mov¬ing discussions on these projects forward. We are confident that through mu¬tually beneficial relationship with communities where we operate, and the many businesses and vendors that provide necessary products and services, we will see the benefits of oil and gas opera¬tions multiplied as wide as is possible.”
MPN has, therefore, named the first three project managers responsible for supervising the execution of the community-nominated projects. They are E & T Integrated EMS Limited, Union Consultants and Bil Integrated Systems Limited.
These companies, ac¬cording to MPN, were select¬ed following a competitive technical bid and evaluation process, jointly supervised by it and NAPIMS. They will manage execution of pro¬jects in the Ibeno, Eket and Onna local government ar¬eas, respectively, with their service covering verification of the community-nominat¬ed projects and engagement of local contractors.
Selection of project man¬agers for the five other local government areas, accord¬ing to the company, will be initiated after planned dis-cussions with Akwa Ibom State government and rep¬resentatives of the com¬munities. The other local government areas are Esit Eket, Mbo, Ikot Abasi, Mkpat Enin and Eastern Obolo.
The projects are expected to have a positive impact on the local economy through direct and indirect job cre¬ation, as well as capacity building and promotion of local content within the communities.