Some Common Concerns 23/8/02 9:40 am Page 100
Some Common Concerns
Only about half of the villages surveyed by the Fact-Finding Mission knew about the local consultation meetings in June 2002. In general people did not know about the environmental and social impact assessment nor consultation process, nor how they could express views on the project. Even where consultation had occurred, it was generally not arranged in advance, and often was just with people in the street, rather than going door-to-door.This practice will have skewed the consultation towards just male respondents, who tend to be the ones present in the street, while women are generally busy elsewhere. The Borjomi Bottle Mineral Water Company – one of the biggest employers in the region, and a famous brand across the Former Soviet Union, known for its healthful properties – had never been approached by project companies.This is despite the fact that the pipelines would pass through the area where the springs are located, and so the mineral water company has a vital interest in environmental impacts of the pipelines project on the quality of mineral springs in the Borjomi district. In particular, project sponsors had never contacted the geologists of the mineral water company, the only people who would be able to provide them with specific technical information about the location of springs.The water company complained that it had not been given detailed maps of the final corridor route, and had not been informed about available dispute mechanisms in case of an accident which could affect the springs. In the case of the Borjomi-Kharagauli Natural Park, the Mission was told that BP and its partners had not contacted the natural park administration, nor consulted with the environmental experts of the park administration during the drafting of the ESIAs. BP just sent a copy of the non-Technical Executive Summary of the project ESIAs to the park administration at the beginning of June 2002. In Azerbaijan and Turkey too, the consultation has been at best partial. Numerous key stakeholders and impacted communities have not been consulted. For example, the Fact-Finding Mission held a meeting with 17 non-governmental organisations in Ganja, the second city of Azerbaijan, through whose territory the AGT pipelines would pass.The Mission asked the 17 NGOs present if any of them knew about the ESIA and the consultation process: none of them did.The mission to Turkey visited seven villages, of which only four had been consulted. Nor had the fishermen of Yumurtlik been consulted, even though their fishing would be directly affected by disruption and pollution from both the expanded marine terminal and the three supertankers per day leaving it. Those that have been consulted generally only received incomplete information. For example, few people know which land the pipelines would cross, when construction would begin, what the risks of the project would be, or what would be the mechanisms for redress or dispute settlement. The village of Haçibayram in north-eastern Turkey gives a good example of the inaccurate reporting of the consultation process. BP and its partner Botas, claim to have consulted the village by
Building big, building fast
telephone.Yet it was abandoned during Turkey’s war against the PKK (see Chapter 11) and has been deserted for five years. Now there are neither telephones nor people to answer them. Some ex-residents still use the village but have never been approached by the companies.
The abandoned village of Haçibayram, The consultation is made particularly problematic in north-eastern Turkey – where BP is these countries by the lack of freedom of expression. proud to claim 100% consultation of Because in each country the state is strongly committed inhabitants (Greg Muttitt, PLATFORM) to the AGT project, and is indeed a participant in it, any criticism about the project, and especially opposition to it, by local people would be seen as an act of defiance against the state, and could make the critic a potential target for surveillance, harassment or intimidation. In this context, it is difficult to see how BP believes it has reliably, effectively and genuinely consulted with people along the route on their opinions on the project.
Construction impacts Local employment opportunities on the AGT pipelines project would be very limited (see chapter 9), the workforce instead coming mainly either from elsewhere in the host countries or from overseas. BP estimates that 10,000 construction workers will be employed in total along the whole route – a massive influx into the region that would bring its share of social and economic problems.There are concerns for example that the surge in demand would force up food and housing prices, making life more expensive and more difficult for local people. In the one onshore part of the AGT pipelines system where construction work has already started – the expansion of the Sangachal terminal, south of Baku – these problems are already seen occurring.The Fact-Finding Mission was told by the mayor of a nearby IDPc settlement that the construction work had brought great local benefits, and that most people from the settlement had been employed. But while he was speaking, a group of residents interrupted him and shouted that he was a liar. (Mayors in Azerbaijan are appointed by the state, rather than being elected). It turned out that members of the mayor’s family had been given jobs, but very few others locally. Meanwhile, atmospheric emissions and gas flaring from the terminal had caused serious health problems for some of the residents of the settlement. In relation to potential disruption from the presence of workers, BP’s consultation leaflet states that “strict discipline will ensure that disturbance to local populations is minimised”.The Fact-Finding Mission examined the workers’ code of conduct which was displayed in a company office near the Sangachal terminal works.The code contained 12 points, 11 of which related to behaviour on the c Internally displaced persons – these were from Karabakh
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