Tanzania's Minister of Energy, Yusufu Makamba, lamented those opposing the construction of East African Crude Oil Pipeline, otherwise known as (EACOP) are bunch of hypocrites, revealing environmental assessments have been done with criteria fulfilled, contrary to claims from certain sections that the project is unpleasant to the environment.
Makamba issued the statement recently when he was special guest at the official hand-over ceremony of the Certificate of Approval by the country's Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority to Ministry ECOP-TZ, the company assigned to project construction duties under Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation.
"There exist some critics who said this project is too big for us to implement. Other European parliaments even condemned us for environment threat. This is hypocrisy. For they themselves used to grab our natural resources such as iron ore and gas in the past," stated Makamba.
At the ceremony, he disclosed approval for the construction of the crude oil pipeline from Mutukula in Tanzania, with more than 1,147 kilometres (km) will pass through eight regions - Kagera, Geita, Shinyanga, Tabora, Dodoma, Manyara, Singida and Tanga - while their counterpart, Uganda is also on the move.
EACOP covers 1,443 kilometers from Kabaale of the Hoima District in Uganda, to the Chongoleani Peninsula near Tanga Port in Tanzania. However, 80% of the pipeline is domiciled in Tanzania.
The whole project is estimated around $5 billion, attaining completion by 2025, and expected to produce more than one billion barrels for a period spanning 25 years.
According to Makamba, there are 9,898 Project Affected Persons (PAPs) tied to EACOP in Tanzania.
Tanzanian Deputy Minister of Energy, Advocate Stephen Byabato informed new members of Parliamentary Committee of Energy and Minerals who attended the learning session about EACOP. He confirmed "As at 31 January 2023, 8,781 persons have signed to consent their impacted land." Byabato also revealed 92.5 percent of those affected have been compensated, while the rest are in the process of signing.
Reacting to critics against the project, Dr. Samwel Gwamaka, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tanzania National Environmental Management Council (NEMC), said all necessary procedures pertaining to the project's execution, including registration, environmental impact assessment, as well as accreditation with international financial statistics (IFS) of the World Bank, are sealed.
Editing by Adedayo Osho - Nigeria
