The Rivers House of Assembly says it is committed to protecting the interest of communities hosting oil companies operating in the state.
The Speaker, Mr Ikuinyi Ibani, made the pledge while reacting to a report by the House Committee on Public Petition, Chaired by Mr Evans Bipi, representing Ogu/Bolo Constituency during plenary on Tuesday.
The report which was an outcome of an investigation carried by the committee in line with agitations by the host communities of Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Company, an oil company operating in the area.
The report was debated upon in furtherance to a bill on the floor of the House.
The bill, jointly sponsored by representatives of three affected constituencies in Ahouda East, Emohua and Abua, seeks to resolve the issue of maginalisation of host communities by the Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Company.
The company’s operations is said to directly traverse communities of three local government areas namely: Ahuoda, Abua and Emohua.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that members of the affected communities had earlier protested to the Rivers Assembly, against marginalisation and failure to renew their Memorandum of Understanding with the company.
A resolution read by the Speaker after due consideration of the committee’s report, directed that the affected communities namely: Obumeze, Ogbele, Oshiugbokor in Ahouda Local Government Area, be given their legitimate entitlements by the company.
The Otari community in Abua and Rumuepke in Emohua Local Government Councils are also to enjoy the same rights.
The resolution urged the company to as a matter of urgency renew the MOU which has expired since 2004 using the committee’s report as its basis.
The resolution also called on the National Assembly to give attention to issues that directly affect the existence of Nigerians, especially in the local communities.
It directed that community development projects by oil companies and others should be people-oriented.
The Speaker said that he had observed that Multinational, Transnational and National corporate laws of the country in cases had not protected the interest of host communities.
He said that failure to establish people-oriented projects and programmes in Global Memoranda of Understanding had often times given rise to gross neglect by companies and suffering for their hosts.