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21 june 2001
brussels
african and european organisations demand
suspension of chad cameroon oil and pipeline
project
In an Appeal to the European Parliament and
the Commission, representatives from Chad and
Cameroon call on the European Union to
suspend any support to the Chad Cameroon Oil
Project “until guarantees are provided that
all commitments are being met.” The appeal is
supported by European organisations such as
Friends of the Earth and Urgewald. “In
practice, it means that the European
Investment Bank should suspend the 144 Euro
loans to the governments of Chad and Cameroon
and to the Oil consortium.”, says Raphael
Yimga of the Cameroonian Center for
Environment and Development.
The Appeal follows the publication of the
report “Broken Promises”, which assesses the
commitments made by the project's supporters
to ensure, among others, that the revenues
from oil production would be invested in
poverty reducing programmes. The report
concludes that, one year after the project
was approved by the World Bank, “the
predictions of NGOs have become true”, and
that the project under current circumstances
will not contribute to poverty
alleviation.
Recent reports on violent crackdowns on
opposition members their supporters after the
Chadian elections have cast new doubts about
the ability of the project sponsors to
guarantee that the Oil Project will benefit
the local population. All six opposition
candidates have been arrested by the Chadian
police and were kept for several hours. Some
of them, among them Yorongar Ngarlejy who
represents the oil producing region in Chad,
was tortured and mistreated for several
hours.
“The Deby Regime already spent the first
money from the oil companies to purchase arms
last year. At this very moment, people in the
South of Chad continue to be harrassed and
threatened by the Chadian government.” States
Dobian Assingar of the Chadian Ligue of Human
Rights. “How can the World Bank and EIB
support a project that fosters conflict and
enforces violence?”
At the time the report “Broken Promises” was
published, Reuters on 20 June reported that
another 600 million dollars had been arranged
for the project by ABN Amro, Credit Agricole
Indosuez and 16 other private banks, with the
help of the World Bank in Washington.
“This should be a critical point for all
sponsors and supporters to seriously
reconsider this project”, says Susanne
Breitkopf of Urgewald. “Instead, the World
Bank seems to want to show the world that
they will help the Deby Regime to speed up
the oil exploitation at any cost. This is
irresponsible and will only spur further
violent conlflict in the country.”
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