Uganda: government drags 80 people to court for rejecting compensation fees for their pieces of land that are on the demarcated route of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline-EACOP project
www.independent.co.ug
The Government of Uganda had dragged 80 people in different parts of Lwengo, Kyotera and Rakai districts to court for rejecting compensation fees for their pieces of land that are onn the demarcated route of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline-EACOP project.
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Cosma Yiga, one of the [defendants who refuse to give their land] accuses the government of favouring the interests of the oil company at the expense of the nationals, arguing that they are still grieved with the little money allocated to them.
Yiga, who according to the project design will lose about 2.7 acres of land planted with coffee, banana, and coffee plantations, dozens of mangoes, and jackfruit trees was allocated a compensation of 43.6 million shillings, a figure which he says is too little compare to the value of the property.
He alleges that although some Project-Affected Persons signed consent forms to give out the land, the majority are dissatisfied with rates and are struggling to rebuild their livelihoods.
The government and partners are undertaking to construct a 30-meter-wide and 1,443-kilometer-long pipeline which will transport Uganda’s crude oil from Hoima to the Chongoleani peninsular in Tanzania for export to the international market.
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French oil giant Total and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation are on the cusp of building a massive crude oil pipeline right through the heart of Africa – displacing communities, endangering wildlife and tipping the world closer to full-blown climate catastrophe.
The African initiative StopEACOP, supported by several international NGOs, has been fighting against tbe project, saying the East African Crude Oil Pipeline needs to be stopped and we have a plan to do exactly that.