COVID-19: NNPC, partners break ground for hospital in Bayelsa
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and other operators involved in the oil and gas industry intervention initiative on COVID-19 have kicked off the construction of a permanent emergency and infectious diseases hospital for the South-South Region in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr Kennie Obateru, said in a statement that the operators would deliver lasting medical infrastructure across the six-geopolitical zones in the country.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, was quoted as saying that the project was part of the Nigerian Oil Industry Coalition initiative led by the NNPC to support the nation’s efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted that the industry was contributing about N21 billion worth of support provided through internal procurement processes of contributing companies.
Sylva said that Bayelsa State was considered a suitable site for the project, given its pioneering role in the history of oil and gas in the country and its current contribution of about 40 percent to onshore crude oil output.
The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, who spoke through the Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services, Mr Bala Wunti, said the corporation was working with its joint venture partners across the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors to support the health sector.
He explained that the infectious diseases hospital to be sited on a 1,586 square metre space would serve as zonal isolation centre for COVID-19 and as a referral hospital for communicable diseases after the COVID-19 pandemic.
