GROUP PROTESTS OIL, GAS DRILLING
ENVIRONMENTAL groups have begun preparing legal paperwork to try and stop exploratory oil and gas drilling off the coasts of Durban and Richards Bay.
The announcement was made yesterday during a protest march by more than 100 people from various non-governmental organisations in the province held in Durban.
Desmond D’Sa, of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, said lawyers had been given a legal brief and were looking for loopholes in the public participation process, environmental impact assessment report, and other technical aspects of the gas and oil exploration that they were fighting.
“We are following the money trail to find out who is behind this big push to drill the ocean,” he said. D’Sa said they planned to engage politicians on environmental issues.
Earlier this year, a draft report released gave the go-ahead for exploratory drilling.
The march is the latest development in a fight between environmental organisations, Sasol, and Italian energy and exploration company Eni South Africa BV. Public hearings on the exploration activities have been tense as organisations expressed their disapproval due to the potential harm of exploration on the ocean’s ecosystem.
D’Sa said the protest was the first of many. These would be extended nationally and at Sasol’s head offices.
Simone Dale, of Wild Oceans, said the NGO was focused on marine protection and saw oil and gas exploration as a threat to the ocean.
“We want to send a message that we think oil and gas is a threat to ocean health,” Dale said.
Bhilo Mqondo, of KwaMthethwa, about 70km from Richards Bay, said mining activities in his area had had a devastating impact on the community and that he had joined the protest because he sympathised with people fighting oil and gas exploration. He said people should be consulted on projects being initiated in their areas. “We must be part and parcel of the decision making,” he said.
Sasol said the final environmental assessment report would be presented on December 14, with approval expected to be obtained next year.
Only once approval was received would a date for drilling be considered, it said.