CNOOC trains heavy truck drivers in employable skills in oil sector
Chinese oil and gas company, CNOOC Uganda Limited has awarded certificates to drivers in heavy goods vehicle driving , after completion of a three month course that kicked off in October.
The drivers who were trained, certified and licensed can now professionally drive heavy goods trucks and trailers (class CH License) or rigid trucks (class CM license) and have been trained in accordance with the East African community curriculum.
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The training was undertaken by Uganda Driving Standards Agency on behalf of CNOOC to meet the skills gaps in the logistics and transportation competencies especially in the oil and gas sector in Uganda.
“The three months training has enabled the drivers to explore and acquire more expertise in heavy goods vehicles driving and road safety which is well in line with the national content promotion guidelines," said Aminah Bukenya, the Media and Publicity Manager at CNOOC Uganda.
The beneficiaries hailed the Chinese oil and gas company for the opportunity to train them in employable skills in the oil and gas sector.
“We are happy with this initiative, we are thankful to CNOOC Uganda Limited who have trained
us in Heavy Goods Vehicle driving. I feel like I am a blessed lady who can drive any big truck
without any fear”,” said Irene Businge, one of the beneficiaries.
This selection of trainees in this particular cohort was undertaken in partnership with Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom that supported the identification and selection of trainees from six districts of Kikuube, Hoima, Masindi, Buliisa and greater Kibaale together with the implementing service provider Uganda Driving Standards Agency(UDSA).
The partnership with the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom was aimed at host community content enhancement for potential beneficiaries from the Bunyoro Sub-Region that hosts the Kingfisher Project.
In the interest of ensuring that the training maintains national social distancing and the training standard operating procedures to prevent COVID-9, the program maintained four trainees per instructor per day and only one trainee in a truck during practical sessions.
This arrangement enabled the students to have ample time with their respective instructors during the training.
“We are grateful for the partnership between CNOOC Uganda Limited and Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom and we look forward to more opportunities of working together. We want our people to be skilled enough so that we can gain from the oil and gas resource," said the Bunyoro Prime Minister, Andrew Byakutuga Ateenyi.
According to the trainers, the three months program has provided an interactive forum for us to share, explore and discuss concepts and issues of heavy goods driving and road safety .
CNOOC earlier this year sponsored the training and certification of 120 welders in 2G,3G,4G, 5G and 6G Coded welding to AWS international standards, 84 teachers in the train the trainer program that included five certified programs for teachers from the Uganda Petroleum Institute Kigumba and the Uganda Technical College Kichwamba, 150 SMEs in enterprise development program, the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) training and certification of 60 participants that provided the engineering construction industry workforce the skills it needs to meet the challenges of the future enabling development and qualification in a wide range of craft, technical and professional disciplines.
