Source: AFP
French energy giant TotalEnergies announced on Thursday that it has begun a land acquisition review for controversial $10 billion projects in Uganda and Tanzania that have been criticized by environmentalists.
“This mission will assess the land acquisition procedures implemented, the conditions of consultation, compensation and resettlement of the affected populations and the grievance management mechanism,” the statement said, adding that it would submit its report by April.
TotalEnergies is promoting the Tilenga drilling project in Uganda and the 1,443-kilometer (900-mile) East African crude oil pipeline (EACOP) to the Tanzanian coast, in the face of opposition from activists and environmentalists.
Tilenga is targeting oil beneath the rich Murchison Falls nature reserve in western Uganda with a planned 419 wells, sparking fears among project opponents about the area’s fragile ecosystem and the people who live there.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/4e981d48e5ca411f.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/4e981d48e5ca411f.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
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TotalEnergies, which is working with Chinese oil company CNOOC on the plans, says on its website that going ahead would mean “displacing 775 key homes and affecting a total of 18,800 stakeholders, landowners and land users”.
But Human Rights Watch called in July for the plans to be halted, saying in a report that it has “destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of people in Uganda.”
The oil field “will ultimately displace over 100,000 people,” it said.
Four environmental groups have filed a climate-related criminal lawsuit against TotalEnergies in France.
TotalEnergies announced on Thursday that it has named former Benin prime minister Lionel Zinssou as head of the land acquisition review, calling him a “recognized expert on African economic development.”
Jinsu has worked with TotalEnergies in the past through his consulting firm.
Source: AFP