Chad Pipeline Project Investigation Authorized. World Bank Board approves the Inspection Panel's recommendation
Contact: Eduardo G. Abbott
202-458-2617
WASHINGTON, October 3, 2001—The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved on October 1, 2001 the Panel's recommendation to conduct an investigation into claims made by the Requesters on aspects of the Chad Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project, the Management of the Petroleum Economy Project, and the Petroleum Sector Management Capacity Building Project. The Projects are part of the World Bank Group's assistance strategy to support poverty reduction in Chad. The Projects are the Chad part of the Chad/Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project. They form the overall package of assistance provided by the Bank to the Government of Chad for the development of 300 oil wells in the Doba Basin of southern Chad and the construction of a 650-mile pipeline from the wells through Cameroon to the Atlantic Ocean. The Board's decision was taken on a no-objection basis and without judgment on the merits of the claimants' request.
The Panel's report was prepared in response to a Request for Inspection submitted by Mr. Ngarlejy Yorongar, who was acting for himself and on behalf of more than 100 residents living in the vicinity of three oil fields of the Doba Petroleum Project in the cantons of Miandoum, Komé, Béro, Mbikou, Bébédjia and Béboni, in the Bébédjia sub-prefecture of southern Chad.
The Requesters claimed that their rights and interests had been, or were likely to be, directly harmed as a result of the Bank's actions in the design, appraisal, and supervision of the Projects. In particular, the Requesters claimed that the development of petroleum activities, including the development of the oil fields in southern Chad and the construction of the oil pipeline between Chad and Cameroon, represented a threat to local communities, their cultural property, and to the environment. They further claimed that people living in the Doba Basin were being harmed, or were likely to be harmed because of the absence, or inadequacy, of compensation and environmental assessment. Moreover, the Requesters claimed that their innumerable attempts were made to bring the problems associated with the Projects to the attention of Bank Management had not produced satisfactory results, and that proper consultation with and disclosure of information to the local communities had not taken place. In closing, the Requesters noted that they were holding the Bank accountable for what it had done as well as for what it had omitted to do.
In the investigation, the Panel will be looking into whether the Bank did observed its policies and procedures in Projects cited by the Requesters . The allegations by the Requesters could constitute, among other things, violations of the following Bank policies and procedures: Environmental Assessment (OD 4.01), Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04), Pest Management (OP 4.09), Poverty Reduction (OD 4.15), Indigenous Peoples (OD 4.20), Forestry (OP 4.36), Disclosure of Operational Information, (BP 17.50), Economic Evaluation of Investment Operations, Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Management of Cultural Property in Bank-Financed Projects (OPN 11.03), and Project Supervision (OD 13.05). The Panel's investigation will only focus on the Bank's actions and omissions as the relate to the Projects. The Panel will be making plans for its investigation in the near future.
The complete text of the Panel's Eligibility Report and Recommendation, including the Request for Inspection and the Management Response is available on this website in the Panel Report Section. Paper copies can be obtained from the World Bank's InfoShop (1818 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20433 tel.: (202) 458-5454; fax: (202) 522-1500), the Bank's Public Information Centers in Paris and Tokyo; and the Bank's field office in N'Djamena, Chad.