Overview:
The company is to kick-start the development of the 1,443-kilometer heated and underground pipeline from Kabaale in Hoima to Chongoleani in Tanga, Tanzania.
The construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is expected to resume in June pending the completion of the compensation and resettlement exercise of project affected persons.
Martin Tiffen, the Managing Director at EACOP, said the procurement of contractors for the project is ongoing as well as the final compensations of project affected persons. There are 13,158 Project Affected Person(s) across the entire Pipeline.
He was on Wednesday speaking at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between EACOP and the Institution of Surveyors of Uganda (ISU) aimed at enhancing the skills of surveyors through training and other opportunities.
The company is to kick-start the development of the 1,443-kilometer heated and underground pipeline from Kabaale in Hoima to Chongoleani in Tanga, Tanzania.
On the part of the company, Tiffen said that they have all the logistics in place needed to start the physical construction works.
Tiffen announced that at the end of 2022, some three-quarters of the Ugandan land agreements needed for the pipeline had been signed.
He, however, says that there were unforeseen situations that required to be settled before compensation proceeded, including settling all grievances like where the PAPs are not satisfied. The land while some landowners cannot be traced, there are others who die, but their dependents (heirs) did not have legally acceptable proof of ownership, and they had to go through a lengthy process by acquiring letters of administration.
Tiffen says that some situations required to repeat the valuation exercise, all leading to more delays but adds that this exercise should end in the first half of this year.