Civic Life

Arts and Culture: At NGC we believe that supporting the Arts and Culture is essential to uplifting the spirit of our nation. Therefore, we make significant contributions to festivals, groups and initiatives which aim to keep our national heritage alive.

Because the Arts and Culture are so important to us, we assist groups such as the Music Literacy Trust City Angels, the St. Augustine Chamber Orchestra and have been the sole sponsors of the acclaimed Lydian Singers since 1991. In addition, our financial contributions help support national festivals and competitions such as the Tobago Heritage Festival, the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, the San Fernando Junior Arts Festival (SANFEST), the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival and numerous Carnival activities.

We have also been giving an increased amount of support to the promotion of our national instrument, the Steel Pan. For almost two decades, NGC has been giving financial assistance to an average of 40 unsponsored steelbands. In 2012 we sponsored the Pan Trinbago SteelFestTT which commemorated the country’s 50th anniversary of Independence and in 2013 we were a patron of the Junior Panorama. That year we also sponsored the NGC Couva Joylanders and the NGC La Brea Nightingales Steel Orchestras and even funded the construction of the Joylanders’ pan theatre. Our sponsorship encompasses capacity building and music literacy and creates sustainable modern organizations that can ultimately manage their own affairs, increase social capital in their communities and be good ambassadors for NGC, and, by extension, the pan fraternity.

Education: Education plays a major role in civic life and the development of our communities. At NGC we are committed to promoting national education at all levels.

Each year, our financial contributions help schools realise goals such as setting up libraries or computer labs, acquiring photocopiers or public address systems and establishing music programmes. At the tertiary level, our most recent contribution has been the signing of a MOU with the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine for a professional chair in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The initial period of assistance is for five years with an option to renew.

Outside of schools we have been sponsoring training in various technical and vocational skills since the establishment of our CSI programme in 1992. Over the years, thousands have benefitted from these programmes.

One of our major educational drives is our sponsorship of the NIHERST National Science Centre which promotes scientific awareness in a fun and engaging manner. NGC has sponsored the Science Centre since its inception and continues to take part in all of its major activities, including the popular SciTechKnoFest.

Restoring Public Spaces: Enhancing the environment in which we live makes a community not only makes a community more beautiful but helps form stronger ties among community members. Over the years NGC has invested significant sums in building and refurbishing public spaces which provide forums for social, economic, cultural and environmental activity.

Preysal Interchange Beautification Project

The Ministry of Works has granted NGC the right to beautify the Couva-Preysal interchange. While this project will result in the psychological benefits of a visually appealing public space, it will also provide practical features to benefit the community.

Our work on the interchange will include landscaping, signage, the installation of bus stops and other necessary works. It a major beautification project as the area is extensive and includes two roundabouts in addition to the rest of the interchange. Our aim is to create a suitably impressive gateway to the heart of the natural gas sector – mainly, the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.

Facilities Development

Recognising that the availability of community infrastructure is critical to national development, NGC continues its programme of constructing and upgrading facilities in communities throughout Trinidad and Tobago.  These works have focused on facilities used for education and training, the arts, recreation, community gathering and social services.

In most cases, the projects are carried out in collaboration with national and local governmental agencies and other stakeholders in the community. Some of the major projects we have completed in the past two years include:

• The construction of the NGC Couva Joylanders Pan Theatre, Railway Road, Couva;
• The upgrade and extension of the Caldrac Recreation Club, California;
• The upgrade of the YTC Gymnasium, Arouca;
• The refurbishment of the Leo Thompson Recreation Ground, Gasparillo – Phase 1;
• The construction of temporary accommodation at the Operation Smile Orphanage in White Lands, Poonah, Lower Williamsville.

Environmental Preservation: We recognise that the protection of our environment is critical to creating healthy communities and a healthy nation. Therefore, as a civic minded company, we carry out our operations with utmost care for the environment. This care influences everything from the selection of pipeline routes to the adoption of our no-net loss of forest resource policy.

Pipeline Construction Routes

At NGC we take special care when selecting pipeline routes in order to avoid environmentally sensitive areas. For example, during the construction of the 56-inch Cross-Island Pipeline, we altered the pipeline route at extra cost to NGC to avoid the Oropouche Lagoon.

Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD)

We use Horizontal Directional Drilling in many of our projects to provide a safe system of installing pipelines where conventional open cut methods could harm the environment.

Two of the major projects where NGC has used HDD include the shore approaches for the NEO Pipeline and the Tobago Pipeline.

The NGC Eco-Phoenix Club

Many of the voluntary environmental activities at NGC are organised by the Eco-Phoenix Club which was launched on World Environment Day, 2008. The club is open to all NGC employees, their families and friends of NGC and has approximately 175 members.

Its vision is “to empower employees and their families to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development promote an understanding that each employee is pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnerships, which will ensure our nation enjoys a safer and more prosperous future.”

The club promotes a variety of environmentally concerned programmes including reduce and reuse initiatives, recycling projects, tree planting exercises, clean-up campaigns, educational promotions, competitions or fun events, hikes and nature tours. The Club strives to ensure that NGC continues to act as a responsible corporate citizen, reducing where practicable, its environmental impact or footprint and going beyond minimum required compliance levels.

Reforestation

NGC has implemented a “no net loss of forest resource” policy in our practices. This means that we are committed to replacing every hectare of forest we clear in laying pipelines. We do so through our highly successful reforestation programme.

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