The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has been requested to furnish Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) with documents pertaining to certificates and reports of the Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project.
Led by Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), the CSOs want NEMA’s Executive Director to provide them with a certified copy of the presiding officer’s report from the EACOP ESIA public hearing that took place in Kakumiro, Mubende and Rakai districts in October last year.
The letter dated this month and signed by AFIEGO Chief Executive Officer, Dickens Kamugisha, requests for a certified copy of the final EACOP ESIA report on which NEMA based to make a decision on the EACOP ESIA and also a certified copy of the presiding officer’s report from the EACOP ESIA public hearings that took place 2019.
The CSOs say the documents are key to guiding their efforts to protect the environment and livelihoods amidst the EACOP project.
“The documents will enable us sensitising stakeholders, monitor the social and environmental threats of the EACOP project and ensure compliance with the EACOP ESIA certificate conditions in addition to the EACOP ESIA report commitments,” reads the letter.
The letter also says operating under Regulations 19, 20, 21 and 22 of the 1998 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations, AFIEGO and other CSOs submitted written comments to NEMA and participated in the public hearings on the EACOP ESIA report.
CSOs that participated in the public hearings include Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (ECOTRUST), Citizens Concern Africa (CICOA), Guild Presidents’ Forum on Governance and Action Coalition on Climate Change (ACCC).
Others are South Western Institute for Policy and Advocacy (SOWIPA), World Voices Uganda, Youth for Green Communities and Oil Refinery Residents Association (ORRA).
NEMA issued an ESIA certificate of approval for the EACOP oil project to Total East Africa Midstream B.V on Thursday, December 3, 2020.
