Inspection Panel to investigate policy violations in West Africa Gas Pipeline
13 April 2007
Investigation to focus on issues of compensation, safety, livelihood impacts, and gas flaring
In mid-March, the World Bank Board approved a formal investigation into community complaints surrounding the controversial Bank-sponsored West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) project. Affected communities in Nigeria filed a complaint with the World Bank Inspection Panel in April 2006 about the project, which will transport natural gas from the Niger Delta in Nigeria to provide power in Ghana, largely for the country’s burgeoning industrial sector.
The Inspection Panel visited the project site in February for the second time, following communities’ claims that World Bank management failed to fulfill the impact mitigation commitments it had made in response to the complaint. The communities highlighted ongoing problems surrounding the issues of compensation to local communities, safety, fishing and livelihood impacts, and the project’s supposed contribution to a reduction in gas flaring. Despite these outstanding issues, construction has continued unabated, and officials in Ghana and Nigeria have announced that the project is expected to be completed and gas to begin flowing sometime in April.
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