Group Cautions Ecuador On Fossil Oil Reserves

Following the refusal of
the President of Ecuador, Mr Raful Correa, to comply with the Yasuni understanding on oil reserves, some local communities in the Niger Delta region have called on the “oil man” to ensure that some fossil fuel remained in the soil.
This was contained in a letter dated, September 16, 2013 and made available to the press last week in Port Harcourt.
The letter which was read by the Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action (ERA) Dr Godwin Ojo. Noted that Niger Delta has suffered untold hardship years back due to the negative effect of oil exploitation in the area.
The group which is made up of the media and civil society groups informed President Cornea to toe the path of the Yasuni Initiative which sought among other issues, the possibilities of leaving some fossil fuel in the soil untouched.
The group named Shell, Mobil, Total and others as the leading players in the deleterious impacts of the ecological crimes against the Niger Deltans.
They regretted that Cornea’s modes may likely kill the Yasuni ideas, adding that the idea to save oil in the soil was a new dawn towards a transition away from fossil fuel energy and other issues.
They also noted that the Yasuni initiative was responsible for the birth of the struggles of many communities across Africa, mainly in oil producing communities in Nigeria.
Further more, it pointed out that the struggle, also forced multinationals and the federal government to think towards the commissioning of hydrocarbon impacted in Ogoni land which, according to them, was super headed  by the United National Environmental Programme (UNEP).
They also accused Cornea of trying to suppress the aspirations of many Ecuadorians who supported the Yasuni proposal by attempting to block a public referendum on the matter.
Meanwhile, they have called on him (Cornea), to listen to the people and allow for the democratisation of development decisions.
Almost all oil producing communities in Niger Delta were represented at the meeting in Port Harcourt last week.