Wednesday, July 6, 2011MANILA -- South Cotabato Governor Arturo...

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

MANILA -- South Cotabato Governor Arturo Pingoy Jr. thanked a number of corporations, including a controversial mining company, for their contributions in uplifting educational standards in the province.

Pingoy cited Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI), for providing the Provincial Government health care kits for 100,000 pupils.

He also thanked SMI, together with Dole and the Mahintana Foundation, for helping the province in the fabrication of arm chairs for various schools.

The governor said that prior to this commitment, there was a shortage of 15,000 chairs in the province.

These two initiatives are part of SMI's continuing community development programs, which formally commenced in 2007. They are being implemented in the host and neighboring communities of SMI's Tampakan copper-gold project.

In 2010, SMI supported 19,000 elementary, high school and college students through the provision of tuition fees, other school fees and monthly allowances and salary support for teachers.

"This contribution is part of our CSI program that aims to provide benefits to communities within and near our areas of operation," SMI general manager for operations and external relations Mark Williams said.

Last year, the company invested P135 million as part of its corporate social involvement initiatives, including education, health, livelihood and enterprise-building programs.

SMI has a gold and copper exploration project in the town of Tampakan, which was strongly opposed by the Catholic Church and the New People's Army.

The mining company plans to extract an estimated 13.5 million tons of copper and 15.8 million ounces of gold, with commercial operations eyed by 2016. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)