KEFFES Rural
Development Foundation (KRDF) has employed 104 teachers, health workers to
address shortage in eight coastal communities in Southern Ijaw and Brass Local
Government Areas of Bayelsa.
The Bayelsa Ministry
of Education, Health are collaborating with KRDF in the intervention aimed at
addressing acute shortage of teachers and health workers for Bayelsa rural communities.
.Mr Mathew Sele-Epri,
Chairman, KRDF who spoke during the ceremony to inaugurate the scheme on Monday
noted that the effort would also reduce unemployment in the rural coastal
settlements.
The 104 beneficiaries
of the employment took turns to receive their appointment letters issued by the
KRDF..
According to Sele-Epri,
the beneficiaries who are currently undergoing orientation would be deployed to
eight public primary schools, six public secondary schools and six public
health centres in the benefiting communities.
The communities are
Koluama 1 and 2, Ekeni, Fish-Town, Foropa, Ezetu 1 and 2 and Sangana which
forms the acronym KEFFES communities.
Sele-Epri explained
that the foundation was set up to manage community development and social
responsibility funds provided by oil firms operating in the oil rich coastal
settlements.
It would be recalled
that KRDF was set up for eight Chevron host communities in Bayelsa comprising Koluama 1 2, Ezetu 1 2, Foropa, Fish Town,
Ekeni and Sangana located along the Atlantic coastline within Bayelsa.
Following the 2015 divestment from Oil Mining
Leases 83 and 85 by Chevron to First E&P, an indigenous firm, the new
owners entered into agreement with the host communities and adopted the
governance structure of KRDF
Sele-Epri said the
intervention is funded by the First E & P/NNPC joint venture to the tune of
N67 million annually through a subsisting Memorandum of Understanding with
KEFFES communities.
He noted that the targeted facilities have
long been neglected by the state government, hence, the need for the
intervention; which, he said, was meant to bridge the gap in the education and
health sectors.
“The foundation will pay salaries and sustain
the programme until there are enough personnel. It is an intervention and can
only run as long as we lack teachers.
“Once we get adequate
teachers for schools, we will wind up.
“We have employed
monitors from all communities to supervise employees. We have structures in
place for monitoring and evaluation.
“It will cost about N 67 million a year, an
average of N5.6 million will be spent monthly,” Sele-Epri said
Chairman of the KRDF Board
of Trustees, Chief Claudius Leghemo, a Monarch in Koluama applauded the First
E&P/NNPC joint venture and urged the state government to prioritise the
development of oil bearing communities.
He said it was an
irony that the communities who suffered the adverse impact of oil and gas
exploration and production were neglected in the provision of social amenities.
Ms Ayebatonye Basuo,
Head of Social Performance, at First E & P said the oil firm remains
committed to the development of its host communities and implementation of
agreements with KEFFES communities.
She explained that
under the existing Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU), the First
E&P/NNPC Joint Venture funds development projects chosen and implemented by
the host communities.
He said that the
intervention was part of such undertaken with funds provided by the oil firm.
Two representatives of the beneficiaries of
the employment, Mrs Okpulu Queen and Ms Ileberi Ebiseyo, lauded the KRDF for
creating an avenue for them to render services to humanity in their respective
communities.
They pledged to work
hard and contribute their quotas to the development of their communities and
expressed appreciation to the oil firm for supporting the intervention in
edication and health sectors.
The Ministries of
Rural Development, Health and Education
facilitated the collaboration.
Chief Walter
Liverpool, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education commended KRDF and First
E&P for the intervention.
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