–People’s Property Undervalued, Lacked Satisfactory Engagements
By Davis Buyondo
Masaka
More than 30 Civil Society Organisations are faulting the valuation exercise of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project.
They say it lacked effective and satisfactory engagements as well as free, prior and informed consent while some properties were not recorded for compensation.
The organisations under the Uganda Consortium on Corporate Accountability (UCCA), and others in the Community Transformation Foundation Network (COTFONE) lately found out in various field visits in Lwengo, Kyotera and Rakai that a lot was missing in the exercise.
According to Dalton Bakashabaruhanga, the UCCA Project Officer, the valuation exercise should be revisited to address the gaps before the compensation process.
He said they established the valuation involved selective engagements, unclear explanations, undervaluation, language barrier in addition to alleged intimidation and manipulation in some areas.
For any development projects to succeed, he explained, consent must be sought sufficiently prior to the commencement of any activities which New Plan Limited did not do satisfactorily.
He added that the relevant information concerning the project, its design, impact and implementation must be in a very clear and understandable manner before it is released to the local communities.
Bakashabaruhanga noted that they received reports of people affected by the project who signed consent forms against their will while others raised queries about undervaluation of their properties including buildings, graveyards and plantations.
“If the residents do not clearly understand the relevant information about the project they will, by all means, antagonise its development. Yet if they understand its benefits and they consent through agreements, they even become supportive of the project,” he said.
He added that it is a right for all the PAPs to make free and informed choices about any development in their community which involves relocation or resettlement that may lead them to lose their land and resources.
Bakashabaruhanga further noted that theEACOP Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Report (ESIA) took more than three months to compile but the CSOs and the affected residents were given little time (one day or two) to review it.
“Therefore since the report was written in the English language, it required more time for CSOs and the residents to interpret. This means the core information was limited,” he said.
COTFONE
According to Yisito Kayinga, the Executive Director- Community Transformation Foundation Network (COTFONE), people’s properties such as land and buildings were undervalued while several were not considered for compensation.
From the onset of the project, he explained, the affected residents and community leaders raised concerns about the mapping exercise and later queried the valuation of their property.
“New Plan measured an average width of 30 meters for the right of way of the pipeline.But paps complained that the company refused to compensate them for the shrunk land portions which remained after cutting off the 30 meters. They could not sell or develop them in any way since they are near the pipeline,” he said.
Total’s ESIA report that was submitted to National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) in January 2019 contains a grievance mechanism which is meant to provide opportunities for stakeholders and potentially affected communities to express grievances about project activities for redress.
However, Kayinga maintained that nothing has been done to address the piling concerns from the affected paps and communities in Rakai, Kyotera, Lwengo, Sembabule and other communities in oil pipeline route.
PAPs
Kassim Katoogo of Naanywa village in Ndagwe Parish, in Lwengo district, is one of the affected residents. He said that he was forced to sign compensation and consent forms under duress of the New Plan officers who were doing the assessment.
Hamid Matovu and Ahmad Ssimbwa of Kituntu-Beteremu village in Kyotera said the compensation rates need to be revised especially for the uniform crops.
The compensation rates are the prices that are determined for each affected item including crops, buildings, natural resources and others. The rates are compiled by the district and approved by the Chief Government Valuer (CGV). These are the rates the contractor/government bases on to pay the PAPs.
They added that their properties were damaged during the mapping exercise but they were not listed for compensated.
Others claim they were blocked from renovating their houses while others were stopped from building pit latrines on their land making life hard for them yet the compensation process for all items has not begun.
The process halted until now yet the contractor refused the PAPs to renovate their houses, build latrines etc for two years now until they are compensated.
Still, those who have graveyards within the pipeline route were told not to bury any more deceased yet they were not compensated or relocated for more than two years which is called a violation of their rights.
Lwengo District
Several PAPs claim that New Plan left them out of the valuation exercise without giving a cutoff date.
But Godfrey Mutemba, the Lwengo District Natural Resources Officer, said that the cut-off date for the valuation exercise was given and displayed in various communities.
The cutoff date is the date given for an exercise to end. In this case, people who are left out of the exercise are considered later in another arrangement.
Mutemba explained that residents in the affected communities were notified about the cutoff dates but some ignored the information until the last date.
“The cutoff date was given on May 13, 2019, and displayed at district and different communities notice boards. At least we made an effort for the affected residents to know the cutoff date,” He noted.
However, Mutemba appealed to Total to consider revaluation of people’s land since its value has appreciated in the two years they have spent without compensation.
Although the EACOP valuation reports were approved by the Chief Government Valuer (CGV) he said the valuation of land should be revisited. He added that they are planning to engage EACOP and the CGV about the matter.
“The land value at the time of valuation was fair but two years after, the value has appreciated. Therefore if the PAPs are paid basing on the old rates, it will be hard for them to get land elsewhere at a cheaper price,” he said.
New Plan Ltd
Daniel Nsibambi, the Communications Officer –New Plan Ltd, they compiled their report after the mapping and valuation exercise and handed it over to Total Uganda which contracted them.
“We compiled a report after the job and submitted it to Total. Therefore further information is with Total or Government,” he said.
Project Stalls
Total E&P Uganda, an Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Company, contracted New Plan Limited to carry out the mapping and valuation exercise which was expedited to create room for the compensate process which stalled.
Total suspended the oil pipeline project after the Tullow-Total deal failed in September 2019. Nonetheless, the botched oil deal rendered the demarcated zones and the marked zones and properties redundant.
However, the succeeding talks between the joint venture partners and government recommenced in 2020. The new deal was expected to be signed shortly.
Total Uganda
Stella Amony, the Communications Officer, told us that there is an extensive record of grievances received by the PAPs. She explained that the grievances are handled during different engagements with the affected PAPs in their respective communities.
That is to say, the grievances were compiled during and after the ESIA and during public disclosure as part of the process. She added that even before and during the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) surveys and property valuations as well as during the display of strip maps across all the affected villages.
Amony explained that all the District valuation reports were approved by the Chief Government Valuer.
“We shall soon commence valuation of residual land and RAP disclosure to all stakeholders including the entitlements to the PAPs. Upon completion of these activities we will be in the position to start implementation and compensation,” she noted.
“For any project related grievances, we have intervened. For example, where there is a dispute over the valuation of assets, our contractor has gone back on the ground to rectify any discrepancies in valuations and surveys,” she said.
About the request for revaluation of people’s land, Amony said that it is the government to decide.
Also, what is the energy ministry saying about all these complaints? Have they heard about them? What are they doing about them?
She further explained that they put a Toll-Free line (0800216000) that PAPs and other stakeholders including the general public can call in case of any grievances.
Project Update
On Friday (September 1, 2020) Uganda government and Total Uganda signed the Host Government Agreement (HGA) for the EACOP project.
This implies that the oil companies which are presented by Total, and the government agreed on the commercial framework for the Lake Albert Development project.
The signing was presided over by President Yoweri Museveni at Statehouse Entebbe and witnessed by the Patrick Pouyanne, the Total Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Hon. Mary Goretti Kitutu Kimono, the Minister of Energy & Mineral Development, signed on behalf of Uganda and Nicholas Terraz, the President -Total Exploration and Production in Africa, on behalf of Total.
The signing further represents progress towards the achievement of Final Investment Decision (FID).
The event followed a series of high-level discussions between President Museveni and Pouyanne which were aimed at addressing the commercial bottlenecks in the achievement of FID for Uganda’s upstream and EACOP projects.
President Museveni reassured Total of the Government’s support during the project adding that the proceeds from oil will be used to further develop the country’s other important sectors like infrastructure, education and health.
He further pledged to engage his Tanzanian counterpart, John Pombe Magufuli, to resolve all the pending issues, such as concluding the Host Government Agreement in Tanzania.
In Uganda, the 296km-long pipeline is set to pass through Hoima, Kikuube, Kakumiro, Mubende, Kyankwanzi, Gomba, Sembabule, Lwengo, Kyotera and Rakai. At least 22 sub-counties and 172 villages are affected by the project.
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