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media advisory
friends of the earth international
27 april, 2006
nigerian communities challenge world
bank's africa gas pipeline
WASHINGTON DC (US) 27 April 2006 --
Communities from Nigeria will file today a
formal claim on the West African Gas Pipeline
with the inspection panel of the World Bank
in Washington.
The twelve Nigerian communities claim that
the World Bank's 'due diligence' on the
pipeline project, led by oil giants
ChevronTexaco and Shell, was deeply flawed
and the cause of local disputes.
Asume Osuoka of Environmental Rights
Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria,
says:
"In Nigeria, oil and gas are at the heart
of severe conflicts. Not applying social and
environmental policies, as the World Bank
did, is a recipe for disaster. Local people
are now calling on the Inspection Panel and
the international community to resolve the
grave problems caused by the project."
Janneke Bruil of Friends of the Earth
International, says:
"The World Bank's involvement in the West
African Gas Pipeline was supposed to ensure
that the project would alleviate poverty. But
the current situation seems to indicate that
the World Bank simply is not able to
implement its policies and serve the poor.
The Inspection Panel is the only option left
to communities to seek redress from the World
Bank."
BACKGROUND:
The claim, filed today by the Association
of Host Communities in Lagos State with the
Inspection Panel of the World Bank, asserts
that the World Bank's policies on project
supervision, resettlement, environmental
assessment and economic evaluation have been
violated. It also points at the project's
lack of local employment opportunities, its
contribution to climate change and its
inability to end dangerous gas flaring.
In the claim, the communities state: "We
believe that the West African Gas Pipeline
Project, if executed as presently conceived,
would do irreparable damage to the land and
consequently, destroy the livelihoods of the
12 communities. (...) we are disappointed
with the complete inaction taken to address
our concerns. We therefore think that this
project will further impoverish the people of
our communities."
The West African Gas Pipeline is a 681 km
onshore and offshore pipeline that will
transport natural gas from gas fields in the
Western Niger Delta of Nigeria to selected
consumers in Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana.
The pipeline, operated by a consortium led by
Royal Dutch Shell and including
ChevronTexaco, obtained financial guarantees
from the World Bank Group and is currently
being considered for support by the European
Investment Bank.
The claim follows the World Bank's Spring
Meetings on April 22-23 and comes less than
three weeks ahead of Shell's Shareholders
Meeting in The Hague, the Netherlands, on May
16.
After receiving the claim, the Inspection
Panel will determine eligibility and can
proceed to undertake an investigation, which
will have to be approved by the World Bank's
Board of Directors.
A special report on the pipeline, "The
Myths of the West African Gas Pipeline" is
available online at:
http://www.foei.org/publications/pdfs/wagp-inet.pdf
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT IN
WASHINGTON:
Asume Osuoka, Environmental Rights Action/
Friends of the Earth Nigeria: +1 202 641 2839
(only April 27), or email
asume@eraction.org
Janneke Bruil, Friends of the Earth
International: +1 202 492 2155 (only April
27), or email janneke@foei.org
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