The Thieves of Pakistan (Truth about British Petroleum's Social Responsibility)

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The Thieves of Pakistan Truth about British Petroleum's Corporate Social Responsibility A controversy over corporate social responsibility is going on in Badin among the British Petroleum of UK, civil society organizations including Actionaid Pakistan, Badin Rural Development Society (BRDS), the People?s Rights Action Committee Badin and other groups. These groups under the umbrella of the People?s Rights Action Committee Badin at their meeting on 27th July 2005 chalked out a campaign schedule to press for the rights of the people of Badin which have been violated by a Britain based multinational extractive company British Petroleum BP. Amid this controversy, BP claims of spending huge sums on various projects in Badin as their corporate social responsibility while the civil society deny and refute claims of BP saying nothing is being done in the interests of the communities. Read such facts in more details at following link: http://www3.actionaid.org/pakistan/1656.html A brief summary of that link is as following: [b]Communities from Badin, a coastal district in southern Pakistan , protested against alleged violations by oil conglomerate BP at the World Social Forum on Monday (January 22), accusing the company of neglecting community interests while making large profits form mineral resources, writes Shafqat Munir. "Badin the oil and gas rich district of Pakistan is the poorest area on the human development index with only 3% girls’ education and 10-15% boys education and limited health, livelihood and potable water facilities," [/b]said Dr Akash Ansari, a leader of Badin Rural Development Society (BRDS). "The reason is very simple. British Petroleum is extracting oil and gas in huge quantities and earning billions of dollar, but not even one percent of this profit is being spent on community development and environment protection, even though the company claims they are doing this." British Petroleum denies that it is neglecting local people saying it offers "financial support to projects in health, education and infrastructure development." But Dr Ansari said that: "if the company was fulfilling its claims, the district would not still be the poorest district in the country." BRDS in partnership with Actionaid in Pakistan (AAPK) and local communities of the operational area at Badin is campaigning for the rights of the affected communities. They are demanding that the company should follow international human rights law and invest a fair proportion of its gains in education, health and strengthening local livelihoods. Despite being the poorest area of Pakistan , it is rich in natural resources, producing over two-thirds of Pakistan ’s entire crude oil output and 44% of its natural gas. Truth about British Petroleum's community development in Badin? District Badin is most southern district of the country having population of 1.5 million and by natural resources it is richest District of Pakistan due to huge reservoirs of high quality natural petroleum and natural Gas. In the 2000 it was declared the poorest District of the Country by World Bank and Government of Pakistan. The poverty rate is 90%.The extractive industry emerged Badin in early 80s, now all the extractive operations and production are carried out by a Single Multinational Company British Petroleum BP. Read such facts in more details at following link: http://sindhdevelopmentinstitute.blogspot.com/2005/04/truth-about-bps-community-development.html The World Sindhi Institute Protest against bp Pakistan http://www.worldsindhi.org/wsipressreleases/2005/jan05.html [b]Urge British Petroleum to Ensure Economic Development and Social Reform in Sindh! “The philosophy of BP Pakistan is to support projects, which make a difference to the local people in our area of operation. The expenditures are principally in health, education and drinking water supply. Other expenditures are sanctioned in our area of operation provided they benefit the disadvantaged sections of the population which is very rural with a subsistence standard of living.” British Petroleum’s international oil production operations include a sizeable portion based in Sindh, east of Karachi . BP Pakistan Exploration & Production Inc. (BPP) produces approximately “207 million cubic feet of gas and 30,000 barrels of oil per day. It is the leading foreign operator in the country with an estimated 50% (Gross) of the indigenous oil and 9%(Gross) of the gas production.” With such a sizeable and profitable presence in Sindh, WSI urges BP to take a more proactive stance in economic and developmental assistance for the Sindhis of Sindh. Unfortunately, economic opportunity and developmental funds are currently not being provided. In particular: · WSI urges BP to hire additional Sindhis for technical and managerial positions, and offer training opportunities for them to assume such posts. To date, many such positions are assumed by non-Sindhis from other provinces. · BP must ensure proper allocation of development funds to the immediate environs of its oil production facilities in Sindh, and ensure these funds are used for the educational, social, health and economic needs of its citizens. At present, many such development funds are redirected to locations outside of Sindh province. · Provide regular input by community member and civil society organizations within Sindh to help determine and administer development assistance within BPP’s operational zone. WSI needs YOUR HELP to let BP know about the conditions of the Sindhis of Sindh, and to ensure proper actions are taken to assist them! The Sindhi Excellence Team recently contacted BP to this effect (see below) – but a MAJORITY VOICE is needed! Take action NOW to make your voice heard! [/b] The greed of oil (black gold) has blind folded eyes of many devloped countries. Is this the right way to treat the humanity ? Kindly read and give your views.