-CSOs Say Issues Raised In The Report Exist
By Insight Post Uganda
Kampala Uganda
The Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), has expressed frustration over the recent report from Human Rights Watch (HRW). The report indicated various human rights violations including displacement and environmental degradation which PAU believes it attempts to undermine Uganda’s national petroleum program.
Like a broken record, PAU says, the report relied on grounds that were detached from the available information or genuine engagement with the institutions of the nation. With painstaking scrutiny, the PAU discovered a disconcerting pattern within the report’s pages.
Despite receiving thorough and comprehensive responses, the HRW report disregarded the facts and instead embraced a biased and misleading narrative.
This distorted account maliciously portrayed Uganda’s oil and gas projects as detrimental to the nation’s welfare, posing risks to the environment, and justifying the withdrawal of financial support.
The report unjustly overlooked the genuine efforts made to ensure that these developments align with Uganda’s best interests and prioritise environmental protection. Its portrayal of the situation was far from the truth, creating an inaccurate perception of the projects and their potential impact.
According to PAU, the report doesn’t give a fair assessment of Uganda’s efforts to build an oil and gas sector that is unique and cares about its people.
For this reason, the authority says, experts from around the world have been working on this project to protect the environment and address climate change while also bringing economic opportunities to millions of people in East Africa.
Unfortunately, they add, the HRW report ignores these important aspects and the positive impacts the project can have on society.
Ali Ssekatawa, the Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs PAU, says the government and project partners are committed to making the projects sustainable adding that Uganda has good policies for compensating and resettling people affected by the projects.
He invites anyone with questions to see for themselves what is being done. He thinks that legal action and reports like this one are distractions and will be proven wrong once all the facts are known.
Ssekatawa wants to make it clear that Uganda’s government is working hard to create a safe and prosperous country that takes care of the environment. He welcomes honest input on how to achieve this goal.
He further points out that the HRW report has errors in the details about who is affected and how they are compensated. The government’s website (www.pau.go.ug) has correct information about the oil sector. It’s best to ignore the HRW report, as it is misleading and wrong.
Environment Campaign
Last month, the PAU and licensed oil companies launched the annual World Environment Day celebrations, focusing on environmental safeguards in the oil and gas sector. The event highlighted the need to reduce plastic waste and promote recycling technologies.
Stakeholders, including government agencies and the community, were urged to combat plastic pollution and restore degraded areas. The PAU prioritizes environmental protection and biodiversity conservation in the oil and gas sector.
Additionally, the government is implementing measures like the National Oil Spills Contingency Plan and enhanced waste management initiatives to preserve the environment during and after oil and gas activities.
CSOs React
However, different Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Human rights and environment activists have refuted PAU’s claims saying that what has been documented by the authority is not actually what it is on the ground.
According to Yisito Kayinga Muddu, the National Coordinator for Community Transformation Network (COTFONE), the HRW report incorporated findings from various organizations.
Kayinga elaborates that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) such as COTFONE, Civil Response on Environment and Development (CRED), Global Rights Alert (GRA), Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), TASHA Research Institute, Citizen Concern Africa (CICOA), and Oxfam Uganda have been closely monitoring the pipeline project.
They have raised several concerns that were ignored by the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), while these organizations continued to advocate for the rights of the affected residents.
The Projects
Uganda’s Albertine Graben region has been known since the 1920s to have potential for petroleum. The first commercial discovery was confirmed in 2006, and to date, approximately 1.4 billion barrels of economically recoverable oil is estimated to be present in the area, which lies on the country’s western border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The more than $10bn being invested in the joint venture will be used to develop several upstream facilities for the Tilenga and Kingfisher projects, as well as for the building of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
The first barrels are scheduled to be pumped out in 2025, with the subsequent peak production rate intended to reach around 230,000 barrels per day. This will make Uganda a bigger producer than some African OPEC countries. About 60,000 barrels per day will be refined in the country to supply the local market, with the rest exported.
In April and May 2021, the Governments of Uganda and Tanzania, CNOOC Uganda Limited, and TotalEnergies E&P signed agreements on EACOP, which will run 1,445km from Lake Albert to the port of Tanga in neighbouring Tanzania.
These agreed that EACOP’s shareholders are TotalEnergies (72 per cent), Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) (15 per cent), CNOOC (8 per cent) and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) (5% per cent).
The Petroleum Authority Uganda (PAU) is the official regulatory agency for all these Upstream and Midstream petroleum developments.
It is tasked to ensure the development creates lasting value for not only the investors but for Ugandans while ensuring standards in environment, social protection and health and safety, among others, are met throughout the development of the industry.
END
English 