Perenco Denies Environmental Damage Amid Criticism of Oil Exploitation in Moanda
Facing criticism over the environmental impact of its oil operations in Moanda, Kongo-Central province, the Franco-British company Perenco firmly denies any involvement in environmental degradation.
In a consultative meeting in Moanda with Kongo Central national deputies and various civil society groups, Minister of Hydrocarbons Molendo Sakombi, and Arthur Gueriot, general director of Perenco in the DRC, addressed the accusations.
Gueriot insisted that Perenco operates in compliance with current environmental standards and is regularly inspected by both national and international organizations.
According to Gueriot, the allegations of environmental harm are baseless and constitute misinformation. “There are indeed a lot of people who transmit false information and other information of a bargaining nature. We have a resolute approach to protecting the environment,” he stated.
Gueriot highlighted Perenco’s sponsorship of sanitation initiatives in Moanda, including supporting a company that recycles plastic waste collected from the streets and the Congo River. This initiative involves paying local villages for the collected waste, which is then transformed into recycled products.
However, the local population tells a different story. Residents report living in poverty with no access to electricity, clean water, roads, healthcare, or education infrastructure.
Pauline Mbenza, second vice-president of the consultation committee of the territory of Moanda (CCTM), emphasized the community’s dire living conditions and lack of employment.
Several reports have documented the environmental and human costs of Perenco’s oil operations. Investigate Europe, a consortium of investigative journalists, identified 167 reports of pollution linked to Perenco’s activities between 2012 and 2021.
This pollution poses a significant threat to the protected species in the mangrove marine park, established in 1992 to safeguard species such as hippos, manatees, monkeys, and turtles.
