IAIA 2015 Concurrent Session: “Country Experiences with Impact Assessment in the Digital Era ll”, FLORENCE, ITALY, 23/04/2015 Communication in Post- commissioning

IAIA 2015 Concurrent Session: “Country Experiences with Impact Assessment in the Digital Era ll”, FLORENCE, ITALY, 23/04/2015

Communication in Post-commissioning IA in Nigeria Edward T. Bristol-Alagbariya,

Faculty of Law, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, NIGERIA

Introduction: Communication Services & Networks in Nigeria

• Since 2001, Nigeria’s telecommunications industry has been witnessing rapid growth & transformation

• The telecom industry is governed by the Communications Act 2003

• This Act applies to the provision & use of all communication services & networks in the country


• The objectives of the Act include to promote the implementation of the national communications or telecommunications policy as may be modified & amended from time to time

• The Act establishes the Nigerian Communications Commission to regulate the Communications industry


• The Act empowers the Commission & strengthens its capacity to operate as the independent regulator of the telecommunications sector

• The functions of the Commission include to grant & renew communications licences & to monitor & enforce compliance of licensees with the terms & conditions of their licences


• The Commission is empowered to develop & monitor performance standards & indices relating to the quality of communications services & facilities supplied to consumers in accordance with best international standards

• Licensees are required to get approvals of States & Local Governments & other relevant authorities to install, place, lay or maintain their network facilities


• The Communications Act imposes duties & responsibilities on licensees of communication facilities. These include

• (a) to ensure good engineering practice, protect the safety of persons & property

• (b) to ensure that their activities interfere as little as practicable with operations of public utilities, roads, paths, movement of traffic & land use; &


• (c) to protect the environment

• Environmental issues associated with telecommunication projects include the following:

• terrestrial habitat alteration, aquatic habitat alteration, visual impacts, hazardous materials & wastes, electric & magnetic fields, emission to air, noise & occupational health & safety

Introduction: Communication Services & Networks & EA

• Telecom Companies (i.e., licensees or proposed telecommunication project proponents) such as telephone, mobile phone, TV & radio station proponents are to also comply with the EIA Act, 1992

• The regulation of Nigeria’s telecom sector is multi-sectoral, as licensees of communications/telecom services & facilities require approval of State & Local Governments & other relevant authorities


• Thus, to erect infrastructural facilities such as masts, telecom Companies are to obtain EIA Certification

• EIA Certification process require telecom project proponents to do the following:

• (a) minimise or considerably avoid potential environmental & socio-cultural impacts of their projects


• (b) ensure environmental safety, sound engineering practices & environmental management best practice; &

• (c) comply with such EIA procedures, guidelines & standards as Nigeria’s Guidelines on Environmental Management system & Nigeria’s Guidelines on Environmental Audit

The NLNG Post-Commissioning IA (PCIA)

• To understand the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) PCIA, the following may be noted:

• NLNG conducted & had EIA regulatory approvals for its projects designed as trains. These projects or trains are

• The NLNG Base project (NLNG Trains 1& 2 ), Expansion project (NLNG Train 3), Plus project (NLNG Trains 4 & 5), NLNG Six (Train 6) & the proposed NLNG Train 7 project


• The EIA process of each NLNG trains has its environmental, health & social aspects from which Environmental, Social & Health Management Plans (ESHMPs) are designed by the NLNG

• One fall-out of the NLNG Train 3 EIA process is the mandatory requirement for NLNG to carry out on a 5-yearly basis PCIA of its Trains 1- 6 projects


• The PCIA which was to take place in 2007 (i.e., 5 years after the commissioning of Train 3) is only presently ongoing

• It was delayed due to the NLNG expansion projects (i.e., Trains 4 - 6), which were commissioned in 2005, 2006, & 2007 respectively

• The ongoing NLNG PCIA is aimed at validating the proposed Train 7 EIA data


• A core objective of the PCIA is to compare & address cumulative impacts data with baseline data of its existing EIA reports

• This is where affected Local Communities can achieve the opportunities they missed during NLNG’s previous EIA processes (eg, NLNG’s previous Fish-catch study)

• The PCIA process thus gave rise to the NLNG ongoing Fish-Catch & Biological Health Studies of the Bonny River Estuary

The NLNG PCIA: Fish-catch & Biological Health Studies

• The main objective of the ongoing Fish-catch study is to assess the impact of the NLNG Exclusion Zone on the livelihood of Bonny Kingdom’s fisher-folks

• The core objective of the Biological Health study is to determine possible contamination of designated biological resources & ecosystem dislocation of the Bonny River Estuary in the course of NLNG’s operations


• The host-community affected by these studies is Bonny Kingdom

• Communication facilities such as digital communication facilities e.g., mobile phones, walkie-talkies, computers & cameras helped to facilitate the studies

• These facilities enhanced information exchange among stakeholders, especially host-community interest groups taking active part in the studies


• Communication facilities used by key community interest groups such as the King-in-Council, BECC, Bonny Employment Bureau, & the Bonny Kingdom fisher-folks (thro: The Bonny Indigenous Fishermen Cooperative Union) are simple (unsophisticated) facilities

• Conversely, communication facilities used by the contractors of the studies & NLNG officials include simple & sophisticated digital facilities

The NLNG PCIA: Fish-catch Study: PICTURE MESSAGING




The NLNG PCIA: Fish-catch Study: USE OF CAMERA

The NLNG PCIA: Fish-catch Study:

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The NLNG PCIA: Fish-catch Study: COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The NLNG PCIA: Fish-catch Study: COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT


• Communication between contractors of the studies & NLNG officials involves information generation, processing, storage & exchange of small & large data

• Such communication facilities involve information generation, processing, storage & exchange of small & large data such as large picture messages etc

Conclusion: Communication Facilities & IA

• Cordial communication between the contractors & host-community groups during these two studies demonstrate the importance NLNG attaches to communication among stakeholder-groups in IA processes

• Communication facilities, including digital communication facilities, are thus enhancing EA process in Nigeria, especially stakeholders involvement


• There could also be challenges about increasing communication facilities

• One challenge is that these facilities can be used by aggrieved host-community stakeholders such as the fisher-folks to question the honesty of the project proponent & thus impede community involvement aspect of IA processes


• For eg the fisher-folks complained that they lost trust in the NLNG, due to unfulfilled promises of its previous fish-catch study

• Such a case of unfulfilled promises reinforces the need for NLNG to cultivate & sustain good relations with their host-communities


• By & large, these two studies would enhance the NLNG PCIA process

• The NLNG’s HONEST implementation of the findings of these studies would enhance its relations with its host-Bonny Kingdom, especially the fisher-folks of the Kingdom

THANK YOU

Documents

IAIA 2015 Concurrent Session: “Country Experiences with Impact Assessment in the Digital Era ll”, FLORENCE, ITALY, 23/04/2015 Communication in Post- commissioning