Latest update December 19th, 2024 3:22 AM
Dec 08, 2020 News
A Mozambican villager tells the Friends of the Earth project team how the gas developments have affected him. (Photo: Friends of the Earth)
Kaieteur News – Communities in Mozambique report suffering injustices because of the way gas developments are being implemented, according to information compiled by an international non-governmental organization called Friends of the Earth (FOE).
The NGO had discussions with affected communities of gas developments, over 20 Mozambican civil society organizations and other individuals working in the area.
Mozambique discovered substantial offshore gas reserves about a decade ago, giving rise to hopes that Mozambique would become an energy superpower in that region, working with companies like Shell, Anadarko and ENI. The country is said to have over 100 trillion cubic feet of gas.
In order for these fields to be developed, the government saw that substantial investments needed to be made in infrastructure. For Mozambicans, that meant having to sell some of their lands to facilitate the path of the infrastructure to be established. Appropriately, there would be adequate consultation processes and locals would receive compensation at a fair price. This was reportedly not the case in many situations. Friends of the Earth reported that there were land grabs with inadequate settlement plans.
“Communities report having their land taken from them without consultation or adequate compensation; the rare times compensation is given, it is extremely low,” the NGO said.
On top of that, resettlement plans for displaced populations were reportedly blind to cultural issues, which could end up causing conflicts.
As in many situations linked to petroleum extraction and production, the respondents to the surveys of the NGO alleged corruption and malfeasance on the part of government officials, the private companies, and even con artists.
“Local villagers shared documents revealing paltry sums provided for land taken and stories of being lied to about what was being offered to them… Communities said that even where companies had provided money for land taken or destroyed, the government had pocketed portions of it,” Friends of the Earth said.
Furthermore, the villagers had fallen prey to scammers who capitalized on their desperation to get jobs, as Anadarko – one of the involved oil companies – failed to properly inform the public about local content opportunities, the NGO said.
When it comes to local content, the people reported not getting what they were promised. The Government and Anadarko reportedly promised many high paying jobs, which got the support of many young, unemployed men.
“Unfortunately,” Friends of the Earth said, “local communities have already reported that the companies are hiring foreigners and urban Mozambicans, and that when they do hire local villagers, they are allegedly paid less even for equal positions. Some locals have asserted that they are hired at low salaries to fulfill local employment mandates without being given any actual work.”
Even from the supporting industries of the development, villagers reported problems that they were being displaced. Their land was reportedly unjustly exploited by companies supporting the gas project to extract materials for their infrastructure, such as sand for construction.
“Villagers say they have been told they could no longer farm their land, or that they would be punished if they tried,” FOE said. “Others reported going to their land only to find that a road or structure was being built without any consultation or warning. This displacement has left them unable to feed their families.”
The issues Mozambicans are facing provide lessons so Guyana knows what to guard against, as it works out the details of its gas-to-shore project. The Guyana government intends to start work on the project by late 2021, with a view of reducing the cost of power for Guyanese and providing reliable electricity.
Dec 19, 2024
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