World Bank Is Full Of Idiots And Crooks 6/8/00 Environmental News Network 'reports' below. Failed to suggest that the pipe be routed north through the desert to the Mediteranean. This would save rain forest, which was also not mentioned. And, can you believe that every reputable scientist on earth believe that fossil fuel exhaust is exacerbating the global warming that already has turned Chad into a desert.

ENN News Big oil, World Bank face big opposition Thursday, June 8, 2000 By Margot Higgins A $3.7 billion oil pipeline from Chad to Cameroon in West Africa would impact the future of generations of Bakola people. Despite widespread objection from human rights activists and environmentalists, the World Bank is moving ahead to help finance a $3.7 billion oil pipeline from Chad to Cameroon in West Africa. The controversial Doba development comprises about 300 oilfields in southern Chad and a 663-mile pipeline from there to offshore loading facilities on Cameroon's coast. Led by oil giants Exxon-Mobil, Chevron and Petronas of Malaysia, the pipeline represents the largest construction project in sub-Saharan Africa. As many as 150 families will be displaced in the oil production area but none along the pipeline route will be uprooted. Construction may also interrupt farmers' access to their land, but the oil companies have agreed to compensate them for any losses. According to the World Bank, the pipeline development could increase annual government revenue in Chad by 45 to 50 percent in four years, a ready resource in the fight against poverty. The bank's commitment to the project is a $222 million loan package. "We could not walk away from a project with the potential to change the future of one of the poorest countries on Earth," said Robert Calderisi, the World Bank's spokesman for Africa. The government in Chad is celebrating the bank's decision. "The approval by the World Bank of the Doba oil project is a great victory for the people of Chad," officials said Tuesday in a statement. Crude was discovered in Chad 30 years ago, and the government has anticipated developing the resource ever since. Opponents of the pipeline contend that it will feed corruption, disrupt the lives of local citizens and poison the environment, negating any benefits. A marine terminal for the pipeline is to be built in Kribi, a coastal fishery area. They point to Nigeria's oil pipeline and the environmental damage and civil strife it has caused. They blame Chevron for several environmental hazards, including a polluted water supply in the Niger Delta. Human rights groups also claim that the late Nigerian military leader Sani Abacha misappropriated the country's oil revenue and dealt harshly with his opponents. Victims of his regime have sued Chevron in U.S. courts for conspiracy in human rights abuses by the Nigerian military against unarmed protesters. Chad and Cameroon have a history of instability, civil war and human rights abuses. "Oil can be a devastating force in countries with such levels of corruption," said Alejandro Queral of the Sierra Club's Human Rights and Environment Program. "Chevron has set a scary precedent." Several opposition groups predict the pipeline's revenue will not go to the poor but will again fall into the hands of wealthy government officials. The World Bank has agreed to support the Chad Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project. Read a report by Environmental Defense on the Chad Cameroon oil pipeline project. The Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, and the Rain Forest Action Network are among the groups that oppose the World Bank loan. Exxon-Mobil Corporation, Chevron, and Petronas of Malaysia, are leading the pipeline development.

Cameroon | Oil | Meltdown 2000 | Africa Index