Coastal communities at Qua Iboe Oil fields that use the Atlantic access road have been cut off from this vital commercial artery while ExxonMobil, works on an upgrade of a crude oil pipeline.
Coastal communities at Qua Iboe Oil fields that use the Atlantic access road have been cut off from this vital commercial artery while ExxonMobil, works on an upgrade of a crude oil pipeline.
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ExxonMobil officials called the Atlantic access blockage "temporary", adding that the road would be re-opened before the end of this year’s first quarter but local economies are already taking a hit with no compensation for their lost business.
Ita Etuk, a fisherman, said that business in the area had nosedived because the access road had been used by customers who came to buy up their catch at the beach.
Etuk said they were being forced by the circumstance to use an alternate road to take their catch to the market.
“Before when the road along the sand bank was open, our customers used to come and buy our fish here at the beach because cars and bikes used to ply this route.
“Since Mobil blocked this route, our customers no longer come here to buy - we have to take the fish to the market by ourselves and we waste time and transport in the process. It is not a good thing for us,” Etuk lamented.
ExxonMobil does not deny that construction materials are blocking off beach access but says that “this is due to a safety measure required for our ongoing construction.
``This temporary blockage was agreed on following consultations with the community… ``We hope to have the construction materials removed and the beach road re-opened for full access before the end of first quarter 2012,'' a press statement from Mobil Nigeria alleged.
Meanwhile, Sahara Reporters has learned that in Ibeno, Southern Akwa Ibom, MPN provided a by-pass to serve as an alternative while the pipeline replacement lasted.
Members of the community, however, maintain that the alternate road was neither tarred nor passable by car and made them incur higher transport costs.
Chief Ukott Esenem, Village Head of Atia, said that since the communities lacked access roads, they have used the sand bank along the coastline as a road subject to tidal waves.
He lamented that the blockage had adversely affected the economy of the predominantly fishing communities adding to the rising cost to fish and sea food as they had to pass on the extra transport cost to fish consumers.
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