Saturday, April 30, 2011

Extractive industries Broken promises Shell continues damaging practices in Nigeria with absolute impunity http://www.radiomundoreal.fm/Broken-promises

The British-Dutch oil corporation Shell flared more gas in Nigeria than the previous year, according to its own figures, despite it had promised to stop said practice in 2009.But Shell’s broken promises have a long history. Since the 90s it has been promising it would stop gas flaring in Nigeria, a practice it has embraced since 1958, and which was banned by law in 1984.The company has caused environmental and human disasters for years in the Niger Delta affecting several villages in the region.A new report on sustainability launched by Shell also shows that in 2010 the company flared 30% more gas than in 2009. According to them this was mainly due to increased production in Nigeria and new activities in Iraq.

Nnimmo Bassey, director of Friends of the Earth Nigeria and chair of Friends of the Earth International, said in a press release issued April 21: “Shell has been flaring gas in Nigeria since 1958. Though gas flaring has been illegal, to them it is a standard industry practice. They continue to reap obscene profits from the oil fields of Nigeria at the expense of the lives and the livelihoods of the poor people. While they speak from both sides of their mouths we see that they are increasing the volume of gas flared and are thus intensifying their poisoning of the environment and the peoples of the region”.

[also see...Shell - SourceWatch http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Shell scroll all the way to bottom and read ''external articles''...

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