DADU, Aug 10: Speakers at a workshop held on Thursday demanded that the BHP Billiton, a multinational oil and gas company, spend one per cent of its income on development projects and social works in Johi taluka where it operated a gas field.

Abdul Fateh Dahiri, a social worker, said in his speech at the workshop on “Multinational Stakeholders” at the district council hall that the company was spending on other areas funds which were supposed to be used for the welfare of local community. The BHP spent $900,000 in earthquake-hit areas, he added.

Union Council Pipri Naib Nazim Rehmatullah said that the company should spend 90 per cent of its development funds in the union council from where it was extracting oil and gas and 10 per cent in other UCs.

He said that he had no objection to the company’s carrying out development scheme and social projects through NGOs but all such work should be started with the consent of union council nazims.

EDO Education Syed Rasool Bux Shah advised the BHP to help the district government financially in opening community schools, which the National Commission for Human Development had planned to open in the area. Each school would enrol 25 children, he added.

Sartaj Abbasi, chief executive of an NGO, Root Work, said that a system should be evolved under which the BHP and other donor agencies and NGOs finance basic human development in the area.

Philip Byrne, BHP’s general manager, said that the company was operating in 26 countries with 100 ventures. In Pakistan it was working only at Zamzama gas field in Johi taluka.

He assured the district government and locals that the company would undertake more development projects in health and education sectors and informed that BHP was using one per cent of its income on the development and social projects in the area.