A group of residents living in five villages that are neighboring the Oil Central Processing Facility (CPF) in Buliisa District earlier this month petitioned the Ministry of Health, complaining about the air pollution generated by the ongoing construction works for the Tilenga project.
These works commenced in May 2021 and constitute part of the early works for the enabling infrastructure to be put in place for the Tilengaproject.
The petitioners from Kasinyi, Kibambura, Kirama, Uduku, and Kisomere villages also complain that the high rising thick dust from the project is causing poor visibility resulting in accidents for all sorts of road users.
The 300 people signatories on the petition also noted that the equipment used by Mota-Engil – the company contracted by TotalEnergies to level the ground at the site for the development of the CPF is raising extreme dust affecting their health.
The accused Mota-Engil of failing to consider their complaints despite reportedly holding a community meeting over the matter.
“We, unfortunately, regret the coming of this project in our area due to the health problems caused to us by too much dust that is contaminating our drinking water and food whether inside the house or being dried in the sun, hence, causing diseases and accidents from the project constructed by Mota-Engil,” reads part of the petition.
“Conditions of children allergic to dust worsen when they inhale it. Community members are also experiencing some new health complications like developing hardships in breathing,” it adds
These in the petition demanded that projects that are not respecting people’s health rights should be stopped from operating and also incur medical bills for the victims affected by the dust among others.
PAU Responds
In a press statement yesterday, the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) the regulator of oil activities in Uganda admitted that indeed there was air pollution being caused by these works.
“This Authority empathizes with the impacted communities and clarifies that indeed, there are ongoing construction works in Buliisa District, at the Tilenga Project Industrial Area, which will host the Central Processing Facility, Construction Support Base, Construction Camps, and Drilling Support Base,” they said
PAU said that all Tilenga project activities, like other oil and gas activities in other parts of the Albertine Graben, “are undertaken with due consideration to the environment and host communities,”
“This includes ensuring that all identified adverse impacts during project implementation are mitigated,”
They said that the current high dust levels are a result of very strong winds coupled with prolonged dry spells within Buliisa District and the surrounding areas.
“This situation is not only affecting the Tilenga Project Industrial site area but a wider landscape within Buliisa District. To deal with this challenge, the frequency of water spraying has been increased to suppress the dust generated. In addition, site activities that generate high dust levels have been scaled down, and vehicle movements are being limited within and outside the operation areas,”
“Therefore, the situation being witnessed is largely temporary and is worsened by natural factors. The above measures are being continuously implemented to reduce the dust emissions, and it also is expected that the situation shall normalize once the dry spell and strong winds ease. The PAU is committed to working with relevant stakeholders to safeguard the health of the communities and to ensure environmental and social protection during oil and gas activities,“
This environmental concern comes at a time when a number of activists are promoting a campaign dubbed #StopEACOP where they are blocking the financing of the $5Bn Pipeline project.
