Engineering firm trains, empowers 40 youths in Imo

Dorman Long Engineering Limited, an oilfield equipment, structural steel and engineering fabrication company, says it has trained 40 Imo youths in various areas of engineering.

The youths, drawn from Assa North and Ohaji south communities, Ohaji- Egbema council area of Imo, were also empowered with start-up packs for self reliance.

They received professional, vocational training and capacity building in engineering works at the Mudiame Welding Institute permanent site, Irrura, in Edo.

The Managing Director of the company, Mr Laurent Maubre, said this during the close-out ceremony for the training, in Owerri, on Thursday.

Maubre, represented by the company’s Head of Human Resources, Mr Godwin Idoko-Ogala, said the project was intended to support growth in Nigeria’s domestic gas, based on the Federal Government’s initiatives for additional power to support industrial projects.

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He said that the youth were drawn from Assa North’s four cluster communities (Assa, Ochia, Awarra and Obile) and Ohaji/Egbema’s seven access cluster communities where the Assa North – Ohaji South gas project is located.

He further said that out of the 40 persons trained, eight befitted from professional areas while 32 received vocational training.

He listed the relevant areas as electrical engineering, welding and fitting, scaffolding and rigging, project management, electrical installation, civil engineering, quantity surveying, ICT, telecoms and carpentry.

“The training involved both competence building and on-the job training and spanned a period of 12 months, from Aug. 7, 2021 to Aug. 8, 2022.

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” In accordance with Nigerian Content Human Capacity Initiative implementation guideline, Dorman Long, in conjunction with Shell Petroleum Development Company, is committed to sustainable development of Host Communities wherever projects are located.

” It is our goal to ensure that at the conclusion of the project, our host communities would have their lot improved appreciably.”

He urged the beneficiaries not to relent in their quest for knowledge of unique ways to contribute to the growth of society.

The Imo Commissioner for Petroleum Resources, Prof. Eugene Opara, commended Dorman Long, its support partners, the SPDC and TotalEnergies for their kind gesture.

He assured the company of Imo Government’s support and urged relevant stakeholders to create an enabling business environment for the development of the communities to enable the oil and gas business to thrive.

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” As a government, we are caught between providing an enabling business environment for oil and gas operations and focusing on development in the oil communities,” he said. (NAN)