Peru tribes file complaint over oil company
Posted by feww on April 8, 2010
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Peru tribes have filed IFC complaint over Maple Energy oil pollution
A year after about 40 tribal men were killed and 100s more injured in clashes with police over President Alan Garcia’s investor-friendly policies, a Peruvian tribe has filed a complaint with the ombudsman of the World Bank’s International Finance Corp (IFC) against Maple Energy Plc. They oil company stands accused of polluting the tribe’s ancestral land and rivers in the Amazon.
Indigenous protesters fighting logging and drilling blocked a road in northern Peru on Friday as police tear gas hung in the air. (June 5, 2009). Photo: AP. Image may be subject to copyright.
The Shipibo-Konibo indigenous communities in Canaan de Cachicuyo and Nuevo Sucre have cited in their complaint five oil spills over the last 15 months, which has contaminated their food and water.
“Our kids are drinking this water and getting sick. And while Maple is working in our territory and getting rich we’re suffering. The issue has never been resolved; that’s why we’ve launched this demand.” Joaquin Sanancino Rodriguez, a community leader in Canaan, told Reuters.
The IFC may not be the best body to complain to, however. It promotes private sector investment in developing countries and has made substantial loans to Maple Energy Plc, a UK-based oil and gas exploration company.
“The tribe has requested help from the International Accountability Project, a U.S.-based environmental nongovernmental organization, to negotiate an agreement with Maple so that the company would accept responsibility and be monitored by the IFC.” The report said.
A senior manager for IFC Oil & Gas, Lance Crist, dismissed the claims made by the tribes
“We believe that Maple is committed to all of the steps that would be expected on an international best practice basis,” he said.
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