Socio-economic impacts of oil and gas exploration to the communities in the Albertine region, a case study of Buseruka sub county, Hoima district.

Abstract

The study examined the socio-economic impacts of oil and gas exploration in the Albertine region focusing on Buseruka Sub County as the case study The Albertine Graben is an area considered as a biodiversity hot spot and Buseruka Sub County is located in Hoima district approximately 37km (23mi) by road west of Hoima where the kabalega power station / kabalega hydroelectric power station is located. The overall objective of the study was to assess the socio economic impacts of oil and gas exploration to the communities in the Albertine region. The study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to collect data, analyze and present it. The methods of data collection used were interviews, questionnaires and field observations. The data was collected from a sample of sixty respondents include males and females, the young ones, the: youth and the old ones; the data was analyzed using excel and SPSS, which facilitated the formation of pie charts, bar charts and a Pearson chi square was used to analyze the relationships between different variables. From the study it was seen that oil and gas exploration had both positive and negative impacts on people’s economic activities and the society It was also seen that the people in the sub county have affected the progress of' oil and gas exploration activities in the different way, therefore there is need to address these issues as soon as possible if oil is to be taken as a blessing and managed sustainably. The study also revealed that there is being a big challenge of people's ignorance about the laws and policies governing oil and gas exploration in the country and therefore some of the oil companies had monopolized on people’s ignorance to exploit their rights. Hence this calls for immediate action in terms of public awareness of all environmental laws so as to ensure local monitoring and sustainability of development projects. Therefore, there is need for government; NGOs, oil companies’ Ugandan citizens and any other interest group to seat on around table and discuss different emerging issues arising from oil discovery and exploitation in Uganda and device means to address them.