Dear editor: Tilenga pipeline is one of the oil feeder pipelines that will be feeding crude Oil to the EACOP and the refinery in Kabaale, Hoima district. The Tilenga oil project passes through different communities where Total Energies compensated for a 30 m wide route passing through people’s land from Buliisa district to Kabaale in Hoima district.
In February 2025, the subcontractor, sports surveyors contracted by the Total Energies excavated, cleared the pipeline route from Buliisa to Kabaale piling soils on the sides of the open route, the subcontractor used sacs to block soil from sliding back to the route, community access roads, valleys and streams, “this was wrong” because the sack and wooden poles are weak and not sustainable.
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As the Tilenga project takes shape, a wide and long route was opened with land clearance, devegetation creating bare grounds where water flows are unchecked inundating farm land. The water run offs along the pipeline routes from the current heavy rainfalls have destroyed people’s crops along the routes in Kyakaboga A and B villages where I visited in Buseruka sub county. The speedy water run offs have not only washed people’s crops but also induced soil erosion on the steepy ends of farms and flooded it down into the valley ends leaving crops devastated.
As a field officer for Oil Refinery Residents Association, I have visited farms of impacted community people and this presents environmental and social concerns among our people. Due to the temporary use of sacs by the subcontractor as a way of blocking soil sliding back to roads, people’s farms along the pipeline route, the heavy rainfalls have flooded people’s farms and covered crops in the low lying areas.
Our community calls for actions.
- The concerned subcontractors for Tilenga or Total Energiesshould get proper ways of preventing flooding induced by their construction work.
- Those affected by the floods and the devastating speedy water runs off are demanding compensation for their destroyed farms.
- The community people impacted by the Tilenga induced flooding and speedy water run offs suggest thatthe subcontractor or Total Energies should use more strong materials; metallic shields to guard their piled soils along the Tilenga routes to block the soil from being washed and taken to their farm land.
In conclusion, the Tilenga pipeline flooding should serve as a wake-up call to properly implement the environment impact assessment, this calls for genuine community engagement, and adherence to international standards. Otherwise, as host communities we hope for development that is decentralized and that benefits us. When development activities are not benefiting us, then that is not a development.
The writer, Innocent Tumwebaze, is a field officer for Oil Refinery Residents Association, ORRA
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