Accra: The Friends of the Nation (FoN), a socio-environmental NGO, in collaboration with the Ellembelle District Assembly, has engaged ENi Ghana, an oil and gas company, to address concerns raised by community members and traditional authorities in their catchment area. The maiden engagement afforded FoN and the District Assembly the opportunity to listen to the concerns of communities in ENi Ghana’s operational enclave as well as feedback from officials of the company.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. William Augustine-Dankyi, a Project Officer at FoN, stated that the engagement aimed at assessing the socio-environmental impacts of the company’s activities, ensuring that the rights of community members were respected and the environment safeguarded. He added that the engagement was also intended to calm tensions and foster a positive working relationship between the communities and the company.
Mr. Augustine-Dankyi mentioned that FoN would continue educating community members to familiarize them with the operations of ENi Ghana, while appealing to the Ellembelle District Assembly to conduct needs assessments of communities to inform the company’s social interventions. Mr. Theophilus Tamatey-Agbo, Planning Officer of the Ellembelle District Assembly, noted that although agriculture was the mainstay of the local economy, oil and gas explorations also provided revenue to the Assembly for development.
He stated that the Assembly would engage members to outline the pressing needs of their communities so that companies in the district could execute relevant Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects for them. Mr. Eric Agyei-Djan, the Manager of Local Development and Stakeholder at ENi Ghana, highlighted unprecedented social intervention projects in the Ellembelle District, especially within Sanzule, the host community, and catchment areas such as Bakanta, Krisan, and Eikwe.
He urged the District Assembly to draft short, medium, and long-term plans that reflected the needs of communities to enable ENi Ghana to prioritize their interests. Regarding concerns raised by community members on developmental projects in the Sanzule community, Mr. Agyei-Djan mentioned that engineering services were currently underway by ENi Ghana, after which a report would be submitted to the Assembly to determine if every expectation of the community falls under ENi Ghana’s purview.
He added that the reconstruction of the Sanzule-Bakanta road was on their drawing board and would be executed in due course.