The Dark Side of Progress: How oil extraction is devastating a Ugandan community

In the scorching heat of the Buliisa district, 64-year-old Margret Atuhairwe scrambles to collect as much water as possible from a dug-out hole on the banks of the seasonal Kamukule river.

Her granddaughter, Everce Katulinde, assists her, as they rush to escape the impending flash floods that threaten to destroy their homes and contaminate their water sources.

The Tilenga oil and gas central processing facility, constructed by McDermott & SINOPEC for the French oil giant Total Energies, has brought more sorrow than prosperity to the neighboring villages of Kasinyi, Kirama, Kigwera Northwest, and Kigwera Southeast.

As the facility handles a massive 5.8 billion barrels of crude oil over 28 years, the community is paying a steep price.

When it rains, the industrial area’s inadequate drainage system pours contaminated water into the surrounding villages, displacing people, destroying homes, and blocking roads.

The water, which is often dirty and smelly, also brings mosquitoes, increasing the risk of malaria and other waterborne diseases.

For Margret, the memories of the November 2023 floods are still fresh. The dirty water mixed with sand destroyed her granddaughter’s tree nursery bed, leaving the family with significant losses.

The fear of the floods is palpable, as the community is forced to wait for weeks for the contaminated water to dry up before they can access their water sources again.

The situation is dire, with over 2,000 residents, including women and children, demanding monetary compensation for the disturbances and the construction of a 15-kilometer trench to direct the water from the oil facility to Lake Albert.

The community’s pleas have fallen on deaf ears, despite promises from the Petroleum Authority Uganda (PAU) to conduct hydrological and flood modeling studies to address the issue.

A group of local citizen scientists, who have been conducting independent studies on the chemical and physical compositions of the water samples, claims that the water contains metals and chemicals.

Their preliminary findings are alarming, and they are demanding a permanent solution and compensation for the affected people and the lake.

The Tilenga oil project’s water abstraction system, which will drain 159,700,000 cubic meters of water from Lake Albert during its lifespan, has raised concerns about the lake’s survival.

The citizen scientists believe that the flooding is a design problem, caused by the lack of silt traps and flood/contour trenches around the huge pits dug to manage stormwater.

As the community struggles to cope with the devastating consequences of oil extraction, they are calling for the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to suspend or cancel the project’s approval due to the emerging undesirable effects that were not contemplated during the issuance of the certificate.

The community demands a detailed hazard risk assessment/study to abate the design issues and an ESIA certificate addendum to ensure that the project is redesigned to mitigate its harmful impacts.

The story of Margret and her community serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of progress. As the world continues to rely on fossil fuels, it is essential to consider the environmental and social impacts of oil extraction and to prioritize the well-being of communities like those in Buliisa.

The fight for justice and compensation is far from over, and it will take the collective efforts of the community, civil society, and the government to ensure that the rights of the people are protected and the lake is preserved for future generations.