Shell and local communities sign MOU

Shell Petroleum Development Company and a group of 20 local communities in Bayelsa State, southern Nigeria, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would pave way for commencement of the construction of a 42-km road. Under the MOU, the communities agreed to donate their land for the road, while Shell would be responsible for evaluating and determining monetary compensation to property owners, The Guardian daily reported on Tuesday. The construction is part of an 80-km road project whose first phase has already been completed. This phase would be completed in 2005. The first 38 km constructed transversed Imiringi-Ogbia and Oloibiri towns, while this second phase will run through the towns of Oloibiri, Otuagila-Edema, Okoroma and Nembe in the oil-producing state, the Lagos daily said. Construction would include bridges, drainage systems and culverts. The MOU, the paper said, seeks to improve relations between the oil companies and locals, which have been unstable. The communities had in the past accused the companies of not doing enough to promote the area's development, as well as polluting the environment. On numerous occasions, communities have sabotaged oil operations or kidnapped employees to express their discontent.