NGC President and Habitat Dedicate a New Home

MEDIA RELEASE
NGC President and Habitat Dedicate a New Home
Monday 14th November 2016

“Habitat for Humanity has a vision of a world where everyone has access to safe, decent and affordable shelter. This is a natural fit for NGC as we seek to contribute to national development through our extensive Corporate Social Responsibility programme which includes a focus on socio-economic development and human development.” This according to NGC President, Mr. Mark Loquan as he spoke at the Dedication and Key Ceremony of a newly-constructed house for Ms. Vashti Singh-Debideen and her two children, on November 11th 2016. Also present at the event were Habitat Trinidad-Tobago’s Local Capital Campaign Chair, Mr. Ronald Harford, National Director Ms. Jennifer Massiah and other representatives of NGC and HFHTT.

The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) in partnership with Habitat for Humanity® Trinidad and Tobago (Habitat Trinidad-Tobago) presented the keys to a newly-constructed two-bedroom house to the small family. This is the first build under a new three-year agreement between NGC and Habitat Trinidad-Tobago. For the three-year period beginning in 2016, NGC has pledged TTD$3 million dollars to help Habitat Homeowners build safe and affordable shelters throughout the country.

In this first year, 2016, three families worked actively with NGC and Habitat volunteers to construct their new homes themselves. All three homes under this year’s contribution were completed and ready to house their new families. NGC’s deep desire to maximize the impact of their contribution also led them to support ten other Habitat families with construction materials to begin or complete their house construction, or to rehabilitate their home. There is a long-standing partnership between NGC and Habitat as 2005-2015 saw the companies funding 16 Homeowners as they built stable and affordable shelters for their families, contributing TTD$1.25 million dollars for this purpose.

Mr. Loquan also assured those present that “… while we are experiencing difficult times within the energy sector, we will continue to support Habitat in its programme of building houses for those in the community unable to afford a home.”

Vashti Singh-Debideen, recipient of the house, noted: “Support from corporate entities such as NGC makes the idea of owning a home a reality for small income earners like me.”

Vashti and her family worked with NGC staff members to paint the newly-constructed home under NGC’s Reputation and Relationship Ambassadors Volunteerism Programme. The Company also provided tiling and a ceiling for the house. Vashti will repay a small, affordable mortgage for the home.

NGC’s Volunteerism Programme seeks to promote employee involvement in the Company’s CSR initiatives. These initiatives include delivering presentations to visiting students, providing safety training to our fenceline community members, cleaning beaches and assisting in various ways at public events such as the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, the NGC/Sagicor/NAAA Championship Games, and NGC SanFest..