%MINIFYHTML24730170225d06f724869992d5e0fbf111%%MINIFYHTML24730170225d06f724869992d5e0fbf112%

When, in 2010, the US energy company Anadarko found significant gas reserves off the coast of the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique, many hoped that the discovery would bring prosperity to the impoverished region. The following year, the ENI of Italy also found a massive gas field in the area.

Since then, Mozambique has seen an influx of foreign energy companies seeking lucrative contracts: Anadarko, Total, which in 2019 bought Anadarko's assets in Mozambique: ENI, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and others .

%MINIFYHTML24730170225d06f724869992d5e0fbf113%%MINIFYHTML24730170225d06f724869992d5e0fbf114%

Cabo Delgado now houses the three largest liquid natural gas (LNG) projects in Africa: the Mozambique LNG Project (Total, formerly Anadarko) worth $ 20 billion, the Coral FLNG Project (ENI and ExxonMobil) for worth $ 4.7 billion and the Rovuma LNG Project (ExxonMobil, ENI and CNPC) worth $ 30 billion.

%MINIFYHTML24730170225d06f724869992d5e0fbf115%%MINIFYHTML24730170225d06f724869992d5e0fbf116%

But, despite the billions in investments that these contracts have brought, the people of Cabo Delgado have not yet seen any benefit from them. In fact, some have already suffered greatly from the arrival of the gas industry.

Shortly after the discovery of gas in Cabo Delgado, it became clear that, although exploration and extraction will take place on the high seas, several communities will have to be evicted to make way for the ground support facilities that Anadarko / Total and ENI will use. projects According to a 2016 Anadarko report, more than 550 families would have to be physically relocated and 952 would lose access to their cultivated land to make way for the facilities of the Mozambique LNG Project. In addition, more than 3,000 people would lose access to their fishing grounds as a result of project operations.

Some of these families have already had to move. Although foreign companies promised to carry out the resettlement and provide compensation after a thorough consultation process with the affected communities, the villagers and my colleagues from the environmental NGO Justica Ambiental have told us that their concerns and objections have fallen on deaf ears. .

Many of them complained that the compensation has been inadequate. In some cases, the farmland assigned to them invades the farmland of another community, which causes conflicts; in others, the new plots they were given were too far from their homes.

Families that used to live only a few hundred meters from the sea and depended on fishing for their livelihoods will be resettled more than 10 km from the shore. Fishermen have already reported that initial gas development and drilling operations are affecting fishing populations.

At the same time, the promised jobs in the gas industry have not materialized, leaving communities facing displacements anxious for their ability to stay in the future.

Some of the villagers have told us that they are afraid to speak because they may not receive any compensation or because they have been threatened by local authorities. In the past two years, several journalists who have tried to report on the situation in Cabo Delgado have been arrested.

Meanwhile, apart from forced displacement and loss of livelihoods, local communities have faced increasing violence from a local armed insurgency.

Since 2017, men armed with guns and machetes have attacked communities throughout Cabo Delgado, killing some 700 people and injuring many. Decapitations, mass kidnappings and destruction of entire villages have sent some 100,000 people to flee the province, according to the UN.

Several groups, including ISIL (ISIS) and Al Shabab, which are not affiliated with the Somali group by the same name, have allegedly claimed responsibility for some attacks, but for many, there has been no clear author.

Some have blamed impoverishment and local crime networks as the driving forces of the insurgency and have dismissed theories about links with transnational terrorist organizations. But the anger over the way foreign companies have dealt with local communities and the lack of transparency about their operations have also fueled rumors that there is a link between the gas industry and the attacks.

The villagers with whom we have spoken have pointed out that while the facilities of the gas companies have rarely been attacked, the communities that have refused to move have been repeatedly assaulted by armed groups.

Regardless of who is behind these attacks, they have alarmed the Mozambican government and forced him to deploy the army in Cabo Delgado. Earlier this month, Total and ExxonMobil asked local authorities to send more troops to the region for protection.

Foreign mercenaries also headed to Cabo Delgado. Last year, Russian private military company Wagner won a contract in Mozambique to provide security in the province and help combat the uprising. About 200 of its fighters were deployed and some of them have already been killed.

None of these measures have made local communities safer. The locals tell us that they fear going to their fields. Those who have been displaced and are far from their assigned plots face the possibility of starving.

Residents are also concerned that the pressure to protect foreign investment in the gas industry will further militarize Cabo Delgado and will be the most affected by the fighting between the Mozambican army and the insurgents.

In addition to displacement and insurgency, Cabo Delgado residents face the danger of an environmental disaster due to gas drilling. According to Anadarko's 2014 environmental impact study, the project will produce a large amount of greenhouse gases and sulfur dioxide, introduce new species into the sea and cause soil erosion.

There is a growing fear that gas drilling will affect biodiversity in the area, especially the Quirimbas Archipelago, a UNESCO biosphere that is only 8 km from one of the gas fields on the coast of Cabo Delgado. The archipelago is home to 3,000 floral species, 447 species of birds, eight species of marine mammals, as well as lions, elephants, buffaloes and leopards.

Dredging, waste disposal and physical construction of facilities on land and offshore will significantly diminish much of this ecosystem. Many species will flee the area due to noise and habitat degradation, while the impact of a possible gas leak or spill will be disastrous.

After the first seismic survey conducted by Anadarko in 2008, reports of massive deaths of marine animals emerged.

Unfortunately, it seems that Cabo Delgado is heading down the disastrous road in the province of Tete, where the government handed over 60 percent of local land in concessions to the coal industry. Exploration and mining in the province have caused the forced displacement of more than 1,300 families and have caused a great loss of livelihoods for local communities and great pollution. The locals have reported deaths of people and animals due to contaminated water.

Mozambique already suffers the devastating effects of climate change and its coal and LNG projects, which are more carbon intensive than the extraction and regular processing of natural gas, will only contribute even more to global warming. Both industries are export oriented and there seems to be no comprehensive plan to use these energy resources in the development of the Mozambican economy. And both have left devastated communities behind.

If the Mozambican government does not correct this exploitation relationship with foreign corporations and focuses its efforts on improving the lives of its own people and making local communities weather resistant, the country is heading for a disaster.

President Filipe Nyusi himself admitted that "poverty and unemployment,quot; are driving the insurgency in Cabo Delgado. In the midst of climate devastation, pollution and socioeconomic marginalization due to the operations of foreign energy corporations, it is difficult to see how public anger and violence will not intensify further.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.

More:

Mozambique, rich in gas, could be going towards a disaster | Mozambique - Up News Info