"Activists petition Uganda, DR Congo to stop oil exploration in new blocks"

Close to fifty international and civil society organizations want Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo to stop the licensing for oil and gas exploration near the Virunga ecosystem. In a letter addressed to President Yoweri Museveni and his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi, the activists said the explorations would impact negatively on communities living near the blocks. “Allowing oil exploration and exploitation activities in these ecosystems will not only negatively affect the biodiversity, but also the communities who depend on these biodiversity for survival,” reads the letter. The environmentalists, backed up by their counterparts in Africa’s other oil economies Nigeria and Gabon, are seeking to stop exploration of Ngaji oil block in Uganda and a total of 21 oil blocks in DRC, located in Virunga National Park, Salonga National Park and Lufira River Basin...

However, Uganda’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Robert Kasande, said that Kampala was conscious about the sensitivity of the area and that its making every effort to ensure that environmental degradation is minimised or avoided during exploration. “Yes, we have done our homework on this area. We have done strategic environment impact assessment that has informed us of areas which we can work in and areas which we cannot work in. We have also developed environmental sensitivity atlas so we know the areas which we cannot try to drill,” said Mr Kasande.