PRG & MRDC continues its support for education in the Gobe project area with the recent opening of a new double classroom and staff house for Mararogo Primary School in Sembrigi, SHP.

Schoolchildren at the Marorogo Primary School in Erave, Southern Highlands Province were thrilled to receive keys to a new double classroom fully fitted with desks to enhance learning.

A new teacher’s house was also handed over to the school. Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) Managing Director Augustine Mano was on hand to present the brand new school infrastructures to the school and the community of Marorogo last Thursday.

During the handover ceremony, Mano stressed the importance of investing in quality education using income from oil and gas and encourage students and the community to value education.

“You must get good education; you must strive to be better than me. I never thought I would become a managing director of a big organization but here I am.” “Education provides the opportunity to be someone greater than me and this can only realize that through education.” “This is why Petroleum Resources Gobe (PRG) has made education a top priority and investing heavily in delivering quality school infrastructure using its Community Infrastructure Trust Fund (CITF).”

The double classroom and the teacher’s house were built at a cost of K559, 953.89, funded by PRG. Construction for these infrastructure commenced in 2016. Progress was slow as lack of road link to the village made it impossible for vehicles to transport building equipment and material.

However, the need for service pushed the community to step up and take ownership.

On the belief “My School, My Future” the community of Mararogo with support from PRG and MRDC built the double classroom and teachers’ house themselves.

Head Carpenter Kalu David said that building material were carried by the community themselves from Sembirigi to Marorogo, which is a 12km walk through a bush trek. Situated outside the corridor of the Gobe Oil Project, Marorogo Primary caters for many of the primary school children living in villages along the Erave/Semberigi area.

For PRG, this project follows on from a similar project for Yanguri Elementary School, also in the same area which received two new classrooms and a teacher’s house in July this year.

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