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The European Parliament has passed an emergency resolution to stop the ongoing works on Uganda-Tanzania oil project citing human rights violations and environmental threats.
Total East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) would be the largest heated oil pipeline in the world, expected to start producing in 2025 and to reach a cumulative plateau production of 230,000 barrels per day.
More than one hundred thousand families and farmers are already being displaced from their lands, and critics say if completed the pipeline would generate over 34 million tons of CO2 emissions every year, and threaten protected wildlife.
The Parliament expresses grave concern about arrests, of intimidation and judicial harassment against human rights defenders and NGOs working in the oil and gas sector in Uganda, and calls on the authorities to immediately release anyone arrested arbitrarily.
MEPs say more than 100,000 people are at imminent risk of displacement due to the EACOP project, with inefficient guarantees of adequate compensation. They ask authorities to adequately compensate people for lost property and land. Parliament also demands the Ugandan authorities allow unhindered access to the zone covered by the project for civil society organizations, independent journalists, international observers and investigative researchers.
“This is an important step forward in the fight against EACOP. The pressure is growing daily against Total and this project at all levels of society and throughout the world. We won’t stop until the project is stopped. No banks or financers who currently fund Total can ignore their responsibility, and they should be prepared to meet increasing pressure too, until they stop financing climate bombs like this around the world,” said Clémence Dubois, France Team Lead at 350.org.
Omar Elmawi, Coordinator at Stop EACOP campaign says: “By denouncing the persecution and intimidation of human rights defenders who dare to criticize the project – several of whom have been arbitrarily arrested in the past – the resolution by the European parliament is sending a clear message that the rights of the people in Uganda and Tanzania should come before the interests of corporations and governments out to enrich themselves. The resolution however urges Total to study the feasibility of an alternative road but if we want to safeguard the environment and water resources, there’s only one road – ending this project that violates human rights and our environment. Communities and climate activists have already expressed their concerns and continued resistance to EACOP. The responsibility lies with the financiers to take a stand against this project.”
According to Sebastian Bock, Germany Team Lead at 350.org “Deutsche Bank is still supporting the French oil giant Total with millions. This resolution from the EU Parliament shows once again why the bank must completely withdraw from financing Total – it must send a signal against this destructive project and show that the bank is finally serious about climate protection, especially after the greenwashing scandal surrounding its investment subsidiary DWS.”
However, in response, Ugandan parliament denied the accusations calling it d “deliberate misinformation”.
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, said on Thursday that “These are projects which were approved by the Parliament of Uganda, the Parliament of a sovereign country and anything to do with challenging their approval is an affront to the independence of this House and we cannot take it lightly.”
The EU bile against the project, added Tayebwa, betrays neocolonial attitudes and imperialism of the EU Parliament, which he derided for closing an eye on the union’s own emissions, instead hypocritically shining the light on an emerging economy Uganda.
“It [EU motion] represents the highest level of neocolonialism and imperialism against the sovereignty of Uganda and Tanzania; the motion seeks to curtail Uganda’s progress on oil and gas development and by extension the country’s socio-economic development,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker presented figures to illustrate what he called the doublespeak of the European Parliament, saying the EACOP will only represent 0.5 percent of global emissions, yet the EU with just 10 percent of the world population emits 20 percent unfettered and member countries are exploring plans to deepen fossil-fuel related excavations unfettered.
“Who [between Uganda and the EU] should slow down?” he asked.
However, EU accusations could be witnessed in the Thursday, September 15, 2022 protests by households living near TotalEnergies’ Industrial Area in Buliisa district against failure by TotalEnergies, and its sub-contractor MontaEngil, to mitigate the Tilenga oil project impacts on them.
In 2021, TotalEnergies sub-contracted MontaEngil to undertake site preparation works such as site clearance, fencing and drainage works in the Industrial Area. Communities say that they have suffered many impacts since MontaEngil started work.
“During the dry season early this year, dust from the CPF area was too much. The dust affected children the most. Some developed asthma while others suffered from flu. Communities especially women suffered with taking children to hospital and paying for medicine yet families have little money. It was also hard for them to dry their cassava -their staple food- amidst the dusty conditions,” Ms. Comfert Aganyira, Africa Institute for Energy Governance’s Bunyoro region Field Officer, says.
Today, with the rainy season having commenced, the communities are suffering from flooding, and its attendant destruction.
“Water specifically comes from the CPF area and it goes to our gardens. The water is too much! It has destroyed crops belonging to several families, including mine,” Mr. Jelousy Mugisha, a resident of Kasinyi village who is also the chairperson of the Resettlement Planning Committee (RPC) for the Industrial Area, says.