Parliament and civil society dialogue on Petroleum Exploration Act

Bo, Wednesday May 23 (SLENA)- The Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Mines and Minerals and civil society groups have ended a two day workshop on the review of Petroleum Exploration and Production Act 2011 at the J and E resort in Bo, organized by the National Advocacy Coalition on Extractive (NACE).

Giving an overview of the programme, the National Coordinator, NACE, Cecilia Mattia said the forum was organized to share information with civil society groups and parliamentarians on the expectation of the public towards oil exploration in the country.

 She further noted that at the end of programme the targeted groups will fully understand the process relating to oil explorations and production and how Sierra Leoneans stand to benefit from such activity.

In his statement, Chairman of the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Mines and Minerals, Hon Chernor Bah commended NACE for helping parliamentarians and the civil society understand the laws governing oil explorations.

Hon Bah promised to work with stakeholders in order to archive better understanding on petroleum exploration.

In his welcome address, Hon Eric Jumu of Bo, emphasized  on the need  for proper  interaction  on matters of development,  more particularly  on the review  of the petroleum  extractive, noting that  diamond and gold mining process has failed  the people of Sierra Leone.

He expressed hope that the laws and regulations of the oil explorations will help alleviate the poverty status of the common man in Sierra Leone.

The facilitator of the programme, Mohamed Aminn Adam, a Ghanaian, briefed parliamentarians and civil society on the role and responsibility of civil society and parliamentarians  toward oil activities.

In the Bonthe Municipal Island, the parliamentarians and civil society organizations engaged the community on the process of the petroleum explorations in the country.

During deliberations, the community highlighted several factors that should be looked into more particularly the Eco reserve and damage to the environment and other factors relating to oil divisions.

The Bonthe community urged civil society and parliamentarians to continue to engage them in educating them on the process.

Hon. Chernor Bah commended the community and promised to work as a team in moving Sierra Leone forward.

SLENA, Sierra Leone

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