PAU Director of Legal and Institutional Affairs Shri. Ali Ssekatawa emphasized in the article the need for a well-coordinated relief and rehabilitation plan for those affected by any major infrastructure project.
The issue is a bone of contention between the Ugandan administration and several environmentalist groups, some foreign and some local.
While Uganda’s push to legitimize its oil reserves seems like a step in the right direction for the country’s economic growth, these environmentalist groups believe that people live in areas with oil fields and that any oil exploration in the area would result in the displacement of said people and destruction of the environment.
According to his report monitor, Uganda News Agency reports that some indigenous populations in Uganda have been significantly affected by the country’s oil and gas operations, and managing this substantial number of project-affected persons is essential to the success of the projects.
Mr. As of February, he said, rehabilitation and compensation of project-affected persons was 99.5% for Kingfisher, 94% for Tillenga and 65% for East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
The report reveals that more than 111 rehabilitation houses have been completed, of which 93 have already been given to scheme-affected persons. Another 242 are under construction and 154 plots have been given to contractors and work can be started.
Oil and gas projects require 1,258 acres of land for Kingfisher development area and 2,901.4 acres for Tailenga Kshetra development area with an estimated 5,551 project affected persons. EACOP requires 2,740 acres of land and is expected to impact a cross-section of people in different locations, many of whom have differences in their relief needs.
EACOP requires a 30-metre wide ‘right-of-way’ along the entire pipeline length to construct the pipeline with land for ‘above ground facilities’ such as pumping stations and marine terminal.
