Throughout the Company’s presence in Block 5A, close ties were maintained with the local population through its substantial Community Development and Humanitarian Assistance Program.

 

The Company believed that community engagement was vital to the economic success of the concession and that its investment had a positive impact on the local community. This plain fact contradicts the allegations by certain NGOs of its complicity in alleged war crimes against civilians.

 

The Company’s development projects had the sole aim of contributing to the welfare of the local populations, particularly those situated in the concession area. In order to achieve this, it carried out consultations with representatives from the local population, tribal leaders, representatives of the state, the Government of Sudan, and other relevant stakeholder groups to determine key needs. This assessment was developed into a formal Community Development and Humanitarian Assistance Program (CDHAP) in 2001.

 

CDHAP projects included freshwater supply, the improvement of education facilities, healthcare and capacity building. By way of example, the Company built and/or supported six schools by the end of 2001 in Kwergen/Dorang, Kwosh, Thar Jath, Koo, Thoan, and Adok, for 585 pupils. A permanent school was constructed in Thoan.

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To prevent the spread of communicable diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea and bilharzia, the Company distributed water, blankets, mosquito nets, tarpaulin, and soap to the local population, sprayed huts and swamps to control mosquitoes, constructed latrines, and facilitated vaccination programmes carried out by health organisations. Between five and eight Sudanese doctors, as well as more than a dozen local paramedical staff were employed by the Company. They worked in mobile tent clinics, temporary straw clinics, as well as in hospitals in the area. Word spread about these clinics and thousands of patients were treated by the Company’s medical staff.

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In terms of capacity building, the Company also distributed farm tools and fishing tackle to local entrepreneurs and, in particular, it collaborated closely with an international NGO based in Rubkona, which helped thousands of families in the area with their farming and fishing techniques and provided tools to enable people to cultivate their own land. The Company also constructed two water filtration units on the Bahr el Ghazal river for the local population to take drinking water to nearby villages.