Nigeria: Civil society petitions National Assembly over gas flaring
Posted by africanpress on January 23, 2008
Port Harcourt (Nigeria) – Civil society leaders and community representatives in the Niger Delta have petitioned the National Assembly, asking for legislation compelling oil companies and the government to end gas flaring this year.
According to the groups, the call for the legislation has become imperative because Nigeria flares 40 per cent of its total annual natural gas production at a rate of approximately 2.5 billion cubic feet per day.
In the petition, which was made available to The Guardian, the groups – comprising Social Action, Environmental Rights Action (ERA), Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Benin River Forum, Niger Delta Women for Justice (NDWJ), Stakeholders Democracy Network, Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities, Centre for Human Rights, Environment and Development, Ogoni Solidarity Forum, Egi Forum, and the United Action for Democracy (UAD) – said previous deadlines set for gas flare-out were disrespected because they were not legally binding.
According to Isaac Osuoka, Director of Social Action, following pressure from big oil companies in Nigeria, the Federal Government late last year shifted its deadline for ending gas flaring from December 31, 2007 to December 31,2008. He described this new extension as “distressing,” noting that promises by previous governments since the 1970s to halt gas flaring had been broken again and again. The 13 groups noted that even the 2005 Federal High Court ruling declaring gas flaring illegal did not seem to count. “Shell and the other oil giants have continued with this dangerous practice while government looks the other side, imposing a small fine which the companies prefer to pay. As it were, communities in the Niger Delta are the biggest losers in this disgraceful act,” the statement said.
“The 2008 flare-out date was yet another concession to oil companies operating in Nigeria. The Nigerian government and National Assembly must confront the impudence of the oil companies by legislating on the 2008 deadline for gas flaring. We cannot continue to toy with the lives of our citizens or condone the wastage of our national energy assets,” they said. To this end, they called on the National Assembly to urgently enact a legislation that compels all oil producing companies to end gas flaring in 2008 as called for by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). The National Assembly was also urged to enact a legislation that compels government and the oil companies to harness associated gas, which is currently flared, for power generation for the communities of the Niger Delta and to feed the national grid.
The groups said there should be a participatory audit of gas flaring to ascertain damage and effect compensation to community victims, hence, the National Assembly should enact a legislation to compel the government to conduct this the exercise. The petition also called on the National Assembly to compel all oil producing companies to stop crude oil production in any oil field where gas is still being flared as called for by the DPR. They referred to a November 2007 report by the DPR which stated that more than 70 per cent (177 out of 139) of the oil fields in Nigeria still flare gas. They, therefore, appealed to the lawmakers to ensure that the fines announced by DPR for 2008 are imposed and that all revenues are dedicated to a “Special Community Health Fund,” which would help deal with the direct and indirect health impact of flaring and oil operations.
Lifted and published by Korir, API africanpress@getmail.no source.theGuardian.Nigeria
