Chad Cameroon Oil and Pipeline Project

The construction of the Chad-Cameroon Oil and Pipeline Project is completed. Its socio-economic impact on the population, and the contracts signed between the stakeholders on the distribution of the oil profits leave much to be desired. RELUFA follows up on unresolved compensation issues in the communities living in the vicinity of the pipeline, and assist the population in rebuilding their livelihoods. The network also works with eclesiastice leadership to sensitize the religious communities at large about the negative impact of the global economy in general and the extractive industries in particular in the Central Africa region. To curb the current trends RELUFA joins national and  international campaigns to advocate changes and call for equity and transparency in this lucrative sector.

The Chad-Cameroon Oil and Pipeline Project is the largest foreign investment project in sub-Saharan Africa. It involves the drilling of 300 oil wells in the Doba region in the South of Chad and the construction of a 1070 km pipeline to transport the oil from Chad through Cameroon to an offshore loading facility at the Atlantic coast. The off-shore terminal facility is connected to the port of Kribi by an 11 km underwater pipeline. The expected oilproduction is 225,000 barrels per day. The project started operating in October 2003 and was inaugurated on 12 June 2004. The controversy about the Worldbank's catalyzing role prior to the start of the project has been compounded by reports of lost livelihoods, inadequate compensation measures, destruction of water sources and labor disputes throughout the construction phase and in the aftermath of the project.

Three network member organizations, i.e. the Center for the Environment and Development (CED), the Ecumenical Service for Peace (SeP), and the Peace and Justice Commission of the Catholic Church, have been monitoring the works for the pipe since the start of the project and continue to advocate against the economic and environmental injustices inflicted upon the population and Cameroon's natural inheritage. On 25 September 2002, CED filed a claim with the World Bank in name of Cameroonian villagers and workers victimized by the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project. Although some of these cases have been resolved, others are still pending.

In 2004 and 2005 RELUFA's task Force on Economic Justice in the Extractive Industries traveled along the pipeline and collected new claims. Through the facilitation of the Worldbank's International Advisory Group, the oil companies and the Cameroonian government have agreed to sit around the table to discuss over 400 old and new cases with civil society groups. RELUFA is active interlocutor in these negotiations to defend the cause of the population.

In 2004, RELUFA worked with Cameroonian member churches of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) to develop a statement on the current trends of oil industries in Central Africa. This statement was presented in a plenary session of WARC's 2004 General Council in Accra (Ghana).

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