Seven years after a gas explosion at Chevron’s
oilfield off Bayelsa coastline, youths from Koluama have proposed an out of
court settlement of conflicts caused by the incident of Jan 2012.
The position of the
youths was contained in a letter to Chevron through the Commanding Officer of
the Front Operations Naval Base koluama
2 made sighted by our correspondent.
Hundreds of Koluama youths had on Sept. 15 2014
boarded the North Apoi oil platform operated by Chevron over nonpayment of
compensation for the rig blowout and vacated the facility after officials of
the oil firm opted for dialogue.
The January 2012 explosion sparked off a fire
incident which burnt at the oil rig for over 50 days before it was put out.
Victims of the Chevron’s KS Endeavour Rig Explosion in
Funiwa oil field in September 2015 dragged the firm to a San Francisco
court in the United States where the hearing has been ongoing..
The youths under the auspices
of Koluama Clan Youth Presidents Forum (KCYPF) said that they plan to table the
peace deal before officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited at the Funiwa 5 well
operated by Chevron in the area.
The decision of the
forum is contained in a letter to Chevron dated January 7 and signed by Mr.Digba Ikiotimi, Koluama 2, President, Mr.Omietimi Henry
and Mrs.Perewari Boghomem, Koluama 2 Women Leader.
According to the letter, the
community wishes to resolve the lingering litigation through meaningful
dialogue and move on.
“The
disaster destroyed our environment and the entire ecosystem which is our means
of survival.
“It is sad to note that after seven
years of patience,the CHEVRON/NNPC Joint Venture have not taken reasonable
steps to resolve a salient issue affecting the lives and survival of her host
communities.
“In view of the above, based on the
over whelming need to act now that we are still alive, the youths of koluama
have resolved that a multi- stake holders committee is set up to resolve the
issue without any further delay.
“ The anticipated multi stake holder
committee ought to include representatives from; Lead plaintiffs/counsels
(legal) from every legal action against CHEVRON/NNPC home and abroad, Chevron
representatives, government representatives
According to them, membership of the proposed committee should
include representatives of individual claimants as well as community representatives.
Public Affairs department of Chevron
declined a request for comments on the issue by email.
No comments:
Post a Comment