Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd has spent Sh113 million in bursaries since 2000, company CEO Subodh Srivastav has said.
He said Sh47.5 million was used to sponsor 798 secondary school students and Sh65.5 million for 378 university students.
“Annually, TCML spends Sh7,240,000 on secondary and university education. We have also built and renovated several schools,” the CEO said.
Srivastav, who took over at the helm of the company early this year, spoke to the Star in an interview on Saturday.
He said the firm takes in 20 local graduate trainees from the community annually to build on their capacity.
“All the trainee graduates are paid by the company while on attachment,” Srivastav said.
The company also employs teachers for public schools in the community depending on demand.
Srivastav said they will continue to invest in health, education, environment and infrastructure projects to help the community.
Water
Some 19,000 residents rely on water supplied by the company.
The company supplies 150,000 litres of treated drinking water per week to remote areas between Magadi and Singiraine.
It supplies 60,000 litres of water per day to 18 public primary schools, 40 ECDEs, seven dispensaries and 17 community water points using a company water bowser.
The company has also drilled a borehole in Singiraine and rehabilitated the Sampu water line.
Health
Most of the patients at the company's 55-bed health facility are residents. Ninety per cent of inpatients and 80 per cent of outpatients treated at the facility are from the local community.
“In this period when the world was hit by Covid-19, the company has remained instrumental in supporting Magadi community with relevant information and campaigns in local dialect to pass information,” Srivastav said.
Environmental protection
The company has planted trees in Loita, Nkurruman Escarpment and Sampu catchment areas.
"We have a tree nursery where we raise seedlings which do well in ASAL areas. We have also planted over 60,000 trees within Magadi township," Srivastav said.
Employment and enterprise development
TCML has supported the community to establish a cooperative, Magadi Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society.
The cooperative has more than 600 community members.
Edited by A.N
