The West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), Onne, has donated a building of 10 units self contain apartments for use as Teachers Quarters to Ogu Town in Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of Rivers State. The company also donated 20 waste disposal skips to Onne community, Rivers State.
The Managing Director of WACT, Aamir Mirza, said the donations were part of the leading terminal operator’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
“As a company, we take pride in the relationship that we have with our host communities. Onne and Ogu communities have been very supportive to the growth of WACT, not only in providing good quality staff, but also in assisting us whenever there is an issue to resolve,” Mirza, who was represented during the commissioning of the projects on Wednesday by WACT’s Chief Financial Officer, Lewis Sarpong, said.
On the donation of the Teachers Quarters to Ogu Town, the WACT Managing Director said, “Education is very important and thought it wise as part of our CSR to build this accommodation to make sure that teachers that are posted to Ogu have good accommodation.
“When the teacher is sound, he goes to the classroom happy and when the teacher is happy he can impact knowledge into the children. That is the most important aspect that we looked at. We need teachers to come to this place. They need to feel comfortable coming to this place, then they can impact the next generation with knowledge.”
Also speaking at Onne during the handing over of the 20 waste disposal skips donated to the community, Mirza said, “We discussed with the community on how we could be of help and we agreed on providing them with 20 skips to tackle waste disposal and promote environmental cleanliness.
“We are handing over 20 skips paid for by WACT to the community so that the community can place them at strategic locations to manage waste disposal issues.”
Expressing appreciation to WACT on the donation of the teachers’ quarters, the Amanyanabo of Ogu Kingdom, King Nicholas Dickson Ibiebele Niminebo Loko IX, said the new building will be of tremendous help to the community and serve as a boost to the educational system in the area.
Also speaking, the Paramount Ruler of the Onne, King Dennis Osaronu, said WACT has demonstrated a high sense of responsibility by providing waste disposal skips to the community.
“There are a lot of things to learn at every stage; like these skips we are seeing today. If these skips are properly used, we shall notice few cases of cholera in the community because the refuse will be contained and will be dispose accordingly.
“There are some communities and Local Government Areas in the State that don’t have one single skip but today we have 20 skips,” the royal father, who was represented at the donation of the skips by WACT by the Chairman, Council of Chiefs, Chief S.N Jiala, said.
West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), which is the first green field container terminal built in Nigeria under public private partnership, started commercial operations in 2007 and has become the most efficient Nigerian gateway to markets outside the Lagos area. It has an annual throughput capacity of 314,000 TEUs, with 375 reefer plugs and a draft of 10.5 meters alongside.