Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited has said that it is currently supplying uninterrupted power to 17 communities in Rivers State and will continue to devise more ways of making life more comfortable to the natives of its host communities.
In addition, the company said it had given at least 2000 scholarships to natives of the state.
The manager in charge of Sustainable Development in EPNL, Mr. Anthony Abolarin, gave the information in an interactive forum with journalists in Port Harcourt on Saturday.
Abolarin said the company had already sealed 16 Memoranda of Understanding with 16 communities across the Niger Delta particularly in Rivers State where the company had most of its facilities and operations.
To ensure the sustainability of the projects approved for implementation by the EPNL, the manager explained that the company had been working through renowned non-governmental organisations and natives of the affected communities to execute its projects.
According to him, the company spends over $800, 000 annually in the implementation of sustainable development projects in conjunction with the natives of the selected communities.
He explained that the company adopted the sustainable development strategy because it was locally driven and carried out by beneficiaries.
On why different initiatives by oil firms and other stakeholders have not yielded any significant effort so far, Abolarin said the efforts had not been galvanised.
According to him, the different plans and efforts by stakeholders have not been sufficiently rolled into one while continuity of planning and execution of projects is absent.
He therefore called for unit-by-unit planning, synergy and integration of plans to develop the Niger Delta.