YOUTHS of Ugborodo Community in Delta State have threatened to ground Chevron’s $3 billion Escravos Gas-to-Liquid (EGTL) project over alleged marginalisation in the award of contracts and job execution.
Ugborodo people who are hosts to the project claimed that an American contracting firm, Southern Gas Construction (SGC) hired by Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), has refused to involve them in the award of contracts just as management of the company declined to dialogue with the community elders as custom demands.
A youth leader in the town, Mr. Isaac Botosan, told Vanguard that apart from reneging on its promise to foot the medical bill of Ugborodo people who sustained injuries in an encounter with security agents in the Company’s Escravos site, the SGC had already awarded contracts for hiring of two houseboats and catering services to a foreign oil servicing firm, which contravened agreement reached between them and the company.
According to Botosan who is the Ugborodo management committee Vice Chairman, “we shall allow only contractors nominated by the community to operate in the area”, stressing that “we shall resist and stop the project execution with all available means” and therefore urged CNL to call SGC to order.
However, officials of CNL claimed not to be aware of any dispute between both parties even as they appealed to the youths to employ dialogue in trying to resolve the issues.