BNW

B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News

Home |   About Us |   Contact Us |   Members |   Search |   Subscribe |   Disclaimer |   THE GUARDIAN CONSCIENCE, NURTURED BY TRUTH LAGOS, NIGERIA.     Wednesday, August 25 2004   news   editorial/opinion   policy & politics   focus/record   business   sports   capital market   metro   arts   money watch   energy   maritime   Guardian Chat Click to join the chatroom Senate asks Shell to pay Ijaw $1.5b From Alifa Daniel and Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Abuja THE Senate has directed Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to pay $1.5billion as compensation to the Ijaw Aborigines of Bayelsa State for the "severe health hazards, economic hardship, injurious affection, avoidable deaths suffered by the people as a result of multiple spillages in SPDC'S facilities. Endorsing a motion sponsored senators Lee Maeba, Rufus Spiff, David Brigidi and John Brambaifa, the Senate ordered that the SPDC should honour the resolution passed by the House of Representatives on the issue in 2003. The Senate also issued a directive to SPDC to pay the sum in the following formula: $1 billion payable immediately; and $500 million payable within five years in five different instalments of $100million per annum commencing not later than one year after the payment of the initial $1billion aforementioned. The Senate mandated its Committees on Petroleum Resources (upstream) and Niger Delta to ensure compliance. In the motion presented by Maeba, he noted that the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions had on December 8, 2000 received a petition from the Ijaw Aborigines of Bayelsa State against SPDC. He added: "whereas the said petition was earlier presented on the floor of the House by Honourable Graham Ipigansi of Bayelsa State before it was referred to the committee; "whereas the House Committee on Public Petitions conducted public hearings on the said petition and received oral and documentary evidence from the petitioners (represented by Chief Pere Ajuwa (chairman), Honourable Ingo MacEtelli (secretary) and the respondent represented by I.Odeleye (company secretary/legal advisor); "whereas the petitioners are seeking monetary compensation in the sum of $1.5 billion from SPDC as claims on the harmful impacts of the latter's oil production and exploratory activities for over 60 years in Bayelsa State; and " the House in its wise decision in order to obtain empirical information on the substance and merit of the petition instituted a four-man Legal Advisory Panel to conduct an investigative hearing of the petition" The panel, he said, included former Chief Justice Muhammed Bello, Justice Kayode Eso, Justice P. Nnaemeka-Agu and Chief Ladi Rotimi-Williams (SAN). It was given the following terms of reference: to study the history of Shell's 60 years of operation in Bayelsa State and determine the level of environmental degradation due to the numerous oil spillages and environmental incidents; to determine the level of health hazards, human suffering, hardship and the destruction of the eco-system and recommend ways and means for amelioration and remedies; to take a pungent look at the 107 items of queries raised by the House of Representatives Public Petitions Committee and the answers given by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and draw viable conditions for a better environment for both Shell and the communities within which they operate and recommend compensation were necessary; to consider side by side, the presentation made by Professor R. N. Nwankwoala, Ph.d and Professor Silvia M. Anika, Ph.d on the area of analysis of the occurrence of cancer and tumour due to the effect of ultra reactions on hydrocarbon molecule in crude oil spillages in Rivers and Bayelsa states from 1997 to December 2000 and draw informed conclusions; to consider and recommend adequate compensation for the Ijaw Aborigines of Bayelsa State, taking into cognisance the compensation that Shell claimed to have already paid to some communities plus the community projects they claimed to have already embarked upon over 62 years of their operation in Bayelsa State; and to consider and recommend ways and means of making sure that a better understanding and friendly atmosphere exist between Shell and their Bayelsa host communities. According to Senator Maeba, the panel after an extensive investigation and analysis of the contentious issues, made the following findings and recommendations with regard to the payments of compensation by Shell to the petitioners: that the petitioners have presented uncontradicted evidence that massive oil spillage have occurred from the respondent's facilities in Bayelsa State. This has been admitted by SPDC (See SPDC's answer to queries Nos 6 and 9). There is no doubt that the petitioners have suffered health hazards, economic hardship, injurious affection, avoidable deaths and other sundry maladies as direct or indirect consequence of multiple spillages occurring in SPDC's facilities, which span the entire eight local government areas of Bayelsa State. (See P. 22 of the Report); "Whilst it is true that SPDC paid compensation to the inhabitants in a few cases, this has been computed at SPDC's discretion without consideration to the scope of the spillage and the sustained effects of subjecting the petitioners to an environment polluted by crude oil effluents" (Ibid P. 23); "It is worthy that in the case of the massive multiple oil spillages, which SPDC itself could not quantify that occurred between December 1938 to January 1994, the Insurance Executive from United Kingdom (who was part of the team raised by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to assess the scope, extent and effects of the spillage) gave a candid professional opinion that compensation in the sum of Two Billion US Dollars should be paid to the petitioners. This was based on the fact that petroleum is an international commodity that is marketed in the United States Dollars: (Ibid P. 23); and The Legal Advisory Panel summarily recommended, therefore, that the petition has merit and that the petitioners are entitled to compensation from SPDC as claimed subject to the following conditions: Five Hundred Million US Dollars ($500,000,000) payable forthwith; One Billion US Dollars ($1,000,000,000) payable within a period of Ten (10) years in 10 equal instalments. The Judicial Advisory Panel in arriving at the aforementioned recommendation believed strongly that the making of such a compensation award would galvanise SPDC and other oil producing companies to be more alive to their social responsibilities and obligations and help to create the atmosphere for peaceful co-existence. � 2003 - 2004 @ Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Rights Reserved).  Powered by dnetsystems.net dnet�

	BNW News
Voice of Biafra | Biafra World | Biafra Online | Biafra Web | MASSOB | Biafra Forum | BLM | Biafra Consortium
	© 2001 BNW BiafraNigeriaWorld  Privacy Policy ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Powered by ACENetwork ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Axiom PSI Yam Festival Series, Iri Ji Nd'Igbo the Kola-Nut Series,Nigeria Masterweb