Oil-bearing Communities in Bayelsa State, popularly known as Host communities, have commended the Federal Government for passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIA) into Law, adding that the passage has brought succour to the host communities.

Recall that through the establishment of PIA, a trust was set up known as Host Communities Development Trust (HCDT), where three per cent of the annual operating expenditure from the preceding financial year by the settlors will be deposited, and in turn helps the communities to embark on some developmental projects.

At the meeting held in Yenagoa during the week, the stakeholders all agreed that the HCDT funds have really helped the host communities, adding that so many projects have been initiated and many completed through the funds made available by the settlers domiciled in their various communities.

With the theme:  Road show/Town hall meeting on PIA 2021 and Promotion of HCDT Development Models, organised by Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta, the stakeholders thanked PIND for educating them on the nitty-gritty of the Act.

Speaking at the event organised under the Bridges Project, Torki Dauseye, anchor of the programme in Bayesla State and the Executive Director of Family Welfare Foundation, thanked PIND for its partnership and support.

He, however, pointed out that from the beginning, the PIA was not comprehensive enough as was expected, adding that communities were having some challenges in the implementation of the PIA.

He disclosed that questions of how settlors arrived at the money that they are paying to communities are a big issue, adding that “the PIA didn’t give the opportunity for communities to ask these questions.

“The settlers are using the authority to do certain things to the disadvantage of the communities.  These have brought conflicts in the communities.

“We also found out that the state governments are not part of the implementation process of PIA, but when a crisis happens in the communities, the state government will be called.”

Dauseye also called for capacity building of the trust members, adding that “because of the nature of the PIA, settlors impose whatever they like on the communities and because of that, communities are claiming that they didn’t know how the development plans were made.

He pleaded that the law should be adjusted to make it easier for communities to work with.

“There are some gaps that need to be reviewed for easier community engagement. Capacity building should be considered for communities during community development plans.”

His Royal Highness, Osene Osene, the Paramount Ruler of Elebele Community in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state, in his contribution, stated that the PIA has helped a lot, but added that “there are some grey areas that need to be touched.

“In all, PIA has brought about peace and better understanding. The grey areas, however, are a wake-up call that calls for review. Aside from that, the PIA has brought relative peace in my community.”

Barrister Ayebanoa Patrick Derri, AITEO-Nembe HCDT, in his contribution, maintained that implementation of the PIA  from the beginning and how it was crafted was faulty, adding “the PIA  is not perfect and it is synonymous with review.

“However, if the government can look critically into the critical challenges of the PIA, it will go a long way to help.

He said that his board’s account was reading 1.3 million Dollars while the naira account was 1.1 billion naira, and as it is now, a lot of projects are going on, but the problem is that how much each project costs has not been made clear.

“All those funds are being released by the settlor. There is a lack of transparency. These projects are not genuinely given to HCDTs. The value of the project and the process have not been made clear to the HCDTs. Let there be pure transparency on how funds are released to the trusts. We don’t know how much each projects cost.

“Also, this liability placed on the trust that if any facility within their domain is destroyed, the community has to pay is not good. Somebody can come from anywhere and destroy the facility, and then, the thing will be imposed on the community.”

He urged all to go back to their various communities to advise “our youths to sheath their grievances and follow the law of PIA and shun anything that will cause kidnapping, oil theft, or any other kind of unrest in the communities.”

Damingo Abigail, member of the Advisory Committee of Boma Central HCDT, disclosed that all the host communities were very happy, adding that “there is a cordial relationship and so there is peace in the various host communities.

She added that because of that, various projects were going on in the host communities. “It has created job opportunities for the youths of the communities. It keeps everybody busy.”

Yousuo Beliegha, BOT  Chairman of Epie /Atissa HCDT, said that the HCDT has some women’s projects, and for men, we have some infrastructural projects.

“We have seventeen communities, and in all of them, we have one project or the other inherited from the GMOU.   Some are ongoing, and some have been completed.

Welcoming the stakeholders, Dr Rachael  Misan-Rupee, a consultant with Partnership  Initiatives in the Niger Delta on PIA, thanked all for coming and urged them to endeavour to ask the settlers questions about the kind of project they want to bring to their communities so that there won’t be replication of projects

Capacity building, she advised, is very critical for the operationalisation of HCDTs, like managing funds and other important aspects of the trust.

She advised all the HCDTs to put capacity building as a project  “because capacity building is a continuous project to support community engagement.”

Robinson Kuroghagha, who facilitated at the event, exposed the participants to key provisions of the PIA with emphasis on the Host Communities Development Trust.