DRC natural resources press review of Friday, January 7, 2014

The series on the exploitation of oil in the Virunga National Park continues. " The communities of Lake Edward mobilize against activities Soco " indicates the Kinshasa edition of Dépêches of Brazzaville. According to the newspaper , " the residents of Lake organized a series of protests against the oil development project of the British oil company Soco Plc in Block 5 of the Albertine Graben . For these consist essentially of fishing communities and farmers, You just cancel the permits granted to the oil company. They expressed their concerns about the possible impacts of this oil exploitation on their livelihoods. civil society in North Kivu , for his part, reiterated its opposition to this project and warned that the population had not been consulted and informed adequately. Meanwhile, Soco already planning the next start seismic tests on Lake Edward with , in the background , the impacts of this exploratory phase , including pollution and contamination of water . "On the same subject, the Potentiel indicates that " WWF condemns repression of demonstrators surrounding communities ." In a press release WWF operated by the daily , which quotes the president of the NGO IDPE , Lukambo Bantu , who said: " On February 1 , Kiwanja , several protesters were arrested and imprisoned and that 3 of the same. month , a demonstration was dispersed Vitshumbi " . And the president Bantu Lukambo to note : "No one knows the catastrophic consequences that can have the oil activity on their sources of income." The newspaper notes that demonstrations began when held in Goma a workshop organized by the Minister of Oil and Electricity ."Electricity : First setback for Inga III " ad publishing Kinshasa edition of Dépêches of Brazzaville. According to the newspaper , " the Board of Directors of the World Bank has announced the postponement of the meeting of February 11, after which the 188 member states will be asked to validate a loan of $ 73 million for this large hydroelectric project in the DRC. no date has been set for the next meeting focused on this topic. Kinshasa was quick to put things into perspective by emphasizing the fact that this is a report and not the delivery question of Inga III " project. The paper highlights the fact that " this report comes amid a controversy over whether the project. In the process, we cited the correspondence written by twelve Congolese NGOs at the end of January in which they expressed doubts about the ability of the project to help the country bridge the energy gap . beyond , they expressed concerns about its impact on local populations . "

In this regard, the Potentiel reaction publishes the World Bank denies withdrawal from the Inga III project despite the postponement of its meeting in Washington. According to the tabloid , the World Bank said Wednesday not to withdraw a large hydroelectric project in the DRC, raising concerns of civil society . "Our commitment to the project Inga III remains unchanged ," said David Theis, spokeswoman for the World Bank.

" The truth about Kinsevere " , informs the Congo News biweekly returning on information relating " Panamanian oil wealth Moses Katumbi " The newspaper writes . . " An old story that Moses Katumbi is a Belgian media said the has resurrected another , that one Congolese rd relayed . This is mine Kinsevere why Katumbi is accused of using his position to buy cheaply and sell more expensive. Yet at the time the acquisition of the mine in 2006 Katumbi was not yet governor of Katanga. only his flair man warned the business guided to bet on an unknown mining concession almost all in the bush . "

Bushfires ravaged nearly 20 hectares of forest in a month in the biosphere reserve of the National Institute of Agronomic Studies and Research ( INERA ) Yangambi (Eastern Province) , reports Radio Okapi. The group of environmental organizations Tshopo deplore the loss of several protected plant species . He believes that individuals deliberately set fire to these forests. The last forest fire recorded in the reserve back to last week. According to Jean Mangala , an official of the group of environmental NGOs Tshopo , fire spread over a distance of about 1 km and has also reached the office of the provincial subdivision of primary, secondary and vocational Isangi I. An agent of this subdivision states that the office of the institution and all retained documents were burned . A few weeks earlier , a forest located near the farm of INERA has also been ravaged by a wildfire. For officials to Inera Yangambi bushfires promote the disappearance of some rare plant species in this reserve.