BENIN: COSTAL PROTECTION WORKS TO START - SEA POLLUTION

UNCLAS COTONOU 000151 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/EPS, AF/W: BANKS, OES ACCRA FOR REO JHUNT LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON SENV EPET KMCA BN SUBJECT: BENIN: COSTAL PROTECTION WORKS TO START - SEA POLLUTION AROUND OFFSHORE OIL FIELD REF: 07 COTONOU 763 -------------- Coastal Protection Works Launched -------------- ¶1. On February 26, 2008, President Boni Yayi officially launched construction of jetties which will fight coastal erosion along a 7.5 km stretch of eroding coastline located to the east of the Port of Cotonou (reftel). Francois Noudegbessi, the Minister of Urban Development, Land Reform and Coastal Erosion Prevention, stated that the construction of these jetties will help protect a number of buildings which could fall victim to the encroaching sea if erosion continued unabated. It will take 48 months to complete the work which will cost 32 billion FCFA (74 million USD) with financing coming from Gulf States' financial institutions. ¶2. As noted in reftel, these jetties are part of a coastal erosion protection plan based on a comprehensive engineering feasibility study completed by a group of Dutch experts. MCC and the engineering companies constructing the jetties are coordinating closely, as the coastal protection program complements the MCC-financed harbor dredging program. Dredge spoils from the MCC program will be used to bolster the shoreline between the jetties and offset the existing erosion. Comment: The two programs are a fantastic example of donor collaboration done right, as both programs benefit from the other. End Comment. -------------- Pollution from offshore oil fields -------------- ¶2. A source at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Water informed the embassy that oil is seeping from improperly capped offshore oil wells located east of Cotonou, not far from Benin's maritime border with Nigeria. He said that floating oil was easily visible on the sea's surface around the abandoned oil platform. The Norwegian company SAGA-Petroleum abandoned the platform in 1998 after termination of the oil exploration compact it signed with the GOB. No mitigation efforts are underway presently though the GOB has approached the World Bank for assistance in funding the cleanup. According to the same source, the GOB signed a contract with a Nigeria based oil company to take over this oil field. The company does not plan on using the existing wells but will drill new ones instead. BROWN