Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Chapter 2.2: Challenges at the National Policy Level
141
such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
(EITI), have attempted to create a global standard to promote
revenue transparency in member companies.
Although this program to “publish what you pay/receive”
is obviously a good thing, it is by itself not necessarily enough
to avoid the resource curse. 21 Also issues of transparency
should encompass the topic of domestic legislation to improve
the accountability of companies in their home countries, and
in any tax havens where they may bank their money. 22 As with
the Natural Resources Charter, in its macro-economic focus,
it can also sometimes overlook, and divert from, the more
direct issues of affected communities. A recent report by the
UK-based NGO Global Witness, called Rigged? The Scramble
for Africa’s Oil, Gas and Minerals attempts to address this with a
useful check-list of actions a community could take to prevent
corruption in the awarding of extractive licenses. 23
On the ground, the situation can still seem to be little affected
by this growing consensus on transparency. The discovery
of oil deposits in western Uganda in 2006 has been
causing tensions in local communities. Senior officials have
been accused of seeking bribes in a rush to sign controversial
contracts with oil companies, which it is projected could lose
the country millions in revenue. In October 2011, parliament
approved a motion to compel the government to delay the
approval of UK Tullow Oil’s sale of its interests, without the
relevant national laws in place. In February 2012, however,
President Museveni signed a direct agreement with Tullow
Oil, allowing them to sell, and paving the way for production.
The President failed to tell parliament how much of the
revenue would go to the affected local communities (some of
whom are indigenous peoples). 24
Having explored legislation around enabling extractive
industries, it should also be noted that there are a number of
areas of lawmaking that deal with more general environmental
or social protection, or economic alternatives, which can be
mobilized. The issue of defining No Go Zones was covered in
Chapter 2.1. Although much of the theorizing around No Go
Zones is at an international level, it can also be viewed in terms
of a national policy of land zoning. Such land zoning could