4 villages in the DRC’s territory of Muanda exposed to the negative effects of PERENCO’s activity (report)
The non-governmental organization Natural Resources and Development (RENAD Asbl) makes serious criticisms of the oil exploitation company PERENCO REP based in the city of Muanda in Kongo Central.
In a report entitled “Cries of alarm from local communities” published on Thursday April 14, 2022, this NGO notes, at the end of a study carried out between 2018 and 2022, several negative impacts of PERENCO’s activity on the living environment. communities of Muanda.
“The conclusions of this report reveal that beyond the relatively limited positive impacts in electricity supply and the construction of some basic infrastructure, PERENCO REP’s operations negatively affect a range of rights of local communities, particularly the right to information and participation, the right to a healthy environment, the right to fair and equitable compensation. The inhabitants of the villages of Kitombe, Kinkazi, Liawenda and Tshiende in the Territory of Muanda are among the communities most affected by these negative impacts. “, Indicates this local structure of civil society.
According to the Coordinator of RENAD Asbl, the study carried out from December 2018 to March 2022 revealed that PERENCO was the source of environmental pollution.
“ Leaks and spills of crude oil and slurry and gas flaring are among the most visible forms of pollution in affected communities. The laboratory analyzes carried out as part of this study confirmed the exposure of the populations of the villages of Kitombe, Kinkazi, Liawenda and Tshiende to high concentrations of Benzene and other harmful pollutants (VOCs, PAHs, etc.) contained in the fumes and vapors of hydrocarbons ”, she underlines.
According to the conclusions of this RENAD study, these pollutants have serious cumulative consequences on the enjoyment of the rights to water, sufficient food and a better state of health of the affected communities.
On the other hand, the research team noted that the responsibility for these violations of community rights is shared between the company PERENCO and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Therefore, the NGO RENAD makes recommendations to these two key players.
On the one hand, the NGO RENAD recommends that the company PERENCO urgently relocate the villages and crop fields located less than 1000 m from the oil installations by compensating them in a fair, equitable and prior manner, and then put in place multi-stakeholder dialogue frameworks in oil exploitation areas.
With regard to the Government of the DRC, RENAD invites it to prohibit the flaring of gas at ground level in the oil exploitation zones in accordance with article 175 of the Law on the general regime of hydrocarbons.
It should be noted that this study benefited from the technical support of the Carter Center and the Swedish Embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The full report of this study conducted by RENAD Asbl is available and can be downloaded from the site www.congomines.org .
