EACOP PAPs CONDEMN THE DISAPPOINTING AND DELAYED COMPENSATION PROCESS

Monday, January 10th, 2022 | By

Persons affected by the oil pipeline have condemned what they term as tiresome and delayed compensation process that has kept them waiting for long.

This was revealed during information sharing meeting on East African Crude Oil Pipeline(EACOP) held at ATKON hotel Kiboga on 25^th November 2021 organized by National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE).

The people affected by the EACOP and Hoima-Kampala Refined Petroleum Products Pipeline  from districts of Kiboga, Kyankwanzi, Kikuube and Hoima who attended the meeting said that the setback arose from disagreement between the property valuers and some of the PAPs who did not consent with the set rates hence being left out.

The PAPs from Rwanda in Kibiga Sub County Kiboga district said that the delayed compensation has left them with limited food because they were directed not to plant crops on the valued land yet if they had been compensated, they would have acquired land for cultivation.

Lucy Mbuubi, the secretary of Butimba sustainability Conservation Association (BUSUCA) in Kiziranfumbi sub county, Kikuube district, said that due to the delayed compensation, the residents have faced challenges with their spouses who cannot standthe poverty they go through.

Meanwhile, PAPs from Kyankwanzi testified to have faced information gap between them and the Government because the communities were not informed about the land surveying and valuation process which brought in inconsistencies.

“I feel the compensation money has been delayed because there were inconsistencies during valuing of the properties since other properties were having smaller rates and others higher and government is still assessing when to pay says Kyankwanzi PAP Avestina Twebaze.

Allan Kalangi the Sustainability School Manager revealed that the sole aim of meeting the various Project Affected persons was to find the progress of the pipeline and how the affected persons are being compensation and any other developments.

“Non-Governmental organizations like National Association of Professional Environmentalists -NAPE and Civic Response on Environment and Development (CRED) are working together to guide and empower the PAPs on all injustices like delayed compensation” Kalangi explains.

The EACOP project covers 10 Ugandan districts including Hoima, Kikuube, Kakumiro, Kyankwanzi, Gomba, Mubende, Rakai, Kyotera, Lwengo and Sembabule involving 200 households and 3,792 PAPs on 2,740 hectares of land out of the 1443 Km square.