From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Kula community in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area, Rivers State, said Renaissance Africa Energy Holdings should inherit all liabilities incurred by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).
The community disclosed its position at a press conference in Port Harcourt yesterday, following the recent takeover of SPDC of joint venture operations by Renaissance.
Renaissance, a consortium of indigenous and international oil firms, acquired SPDC following recent divestment by Shell UK from onshore operations.
Speaking on behalf of Kula people, Chief Anabs Sara-Igba, said that SPDC incurred liabilities while operating OML-25, an oil facility in the community.
Sara-Igbe further said that liabilities arising from decades of oil exploration by Shell halted resumption of operations on the facility.
He said that OML-25, with a production capacity of 45,000 barrels of crude oil per day, had been shutdown for about 15 years.
Sara-Igbe said: “This followed gross neglect and failure of the firm to employ, undertake social responsibility and environmental preservation projects for more than 67 years.
“We insist that the new operator should inherit all liabilities of SPDC before they will be allowed to operate.
”We are requesting for a stakeholders’ engagement with them to enable us to understand the company’s obligations and models of implementation.
“These moves will enable us to avoid the unfair treatment meted on the community by SPDC.’.
Sara-Igbe urged the Federal Government to ensure prompt environmental remediation activities by the operators to restore the ecosystem and livelihoods in the community
Also speaking, the President, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Mr Sukubo Sara-Igbe, expressed worries that the new company had already inherited SPDC staff.
He said: “Retaining SPDC staff who were complicit in the dispute with the host communities may undermine trust and sincere engagement.”
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