7 March 2007
Controversial World Bank-backed project faces further obstacles due to ongoing instability in Nigeria’s turbulent Niger Delta region. In recent months, unrest in the Delta has been marked by kidnappings of oil workers and attacks on oil installations.
Ghana’s Finance Minister, Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, announced last week that the new supply of natural gas from Nigeria will not be available in March as originally anticipated. Construction of the controversial World Bank-backed West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) has run into delays in part due to ongoing instability in Nigeria’s turbulent Niger Delta region. In recent months, unrest in the Delta has been marked by kidnappings of oil workers and attacks on oil installations.
The Chevron-led WAGP project, estimated to cost half a billion dollars, is designed to transport natural gas reserves from Nigeria’s major oil-producing region to Benin, Togo and Ghana.
Supported by the World Bank and its private sector insurance arm, MIGA, the pipeline has faced intense criticism from advocates in the Niger Delta, who in May 2006 registered a complaint with the World Bank Inspection Panel, the Bank’s accountability mechanism. The claim was filed on behalf of residents in twelve Nigerian communities who argued that, as presently designed, the project will do irreparable harm to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of their communities.
The communities raised concerns over the inadequacy of compensation payments to farmers who lost land, the lack of a safety assessment of the upstream pipeline into which WAGP will link, and the failure of the project sponsors to demonstrate how they will maximize use of associated gas (that is otherwise flared) before relying on non-associated gas to supply the pipeline.
The Inspection Panel conducted two visits to these communities in June 2006 and January 2007 to assess the eligibility of the complaint and alleged World Bank policy violations for full investigation. The report from the Panel’s latest visit is forthcoming.
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