Although great care was taken in dealing with environmental problems, the region’s fragile political stability, and about 20,000 local landowners during the BTC construction, not everything went smoothly.
Sudden large amounts of money from a construction project can cause serious problems at all levels. For instance, the Christian Science Monitor reported June 16, 2004, that the head of the village of Khaishi, Georgia (near Tblisi), and his relatives allegedly absconded with $330,000 meant for 130 families affected by the pipeline.
Relative situation
According to the report, the owners’ project manager BP denied responsibility for unfair financial distribution because it scrupulously followed Georgian law and let the courts decide who was entitled to cash compensation payments. A BP spokesperson said local authorities and courts identified the owners of the land the pipeline was to cross. BP had to rely on the authorities for the information.
The report went on to say that the new village headman, Guladi Umpriani, claimed it was not that simple. Georgia’s post-Soviet laws on land ownership are imprecise, proper inventories nonexistent, and local courts corrupt. He said the village trusted the former headman to draw up the necessary documents and make the proper negotiations. Unfortunately, the old headman registered his own relatives as the landowners, and they got everything.
Urmpriani and the other villagers, said Christian Science Monitor, did not actually blame BP for the problem, but they were angry that the company did not send anyone to talk to them ahead of time.
Anxious residents
Another reported incident, related to insufficient public hearings, resulted in other conflicts. According to the Young Lawyers Association in Tblisi, residents of the village of Rustavi, Georgia, first learned of the pipeline on Jan. 4, 2004, when a contractor arrived on the edge of town and started to prepare for construction.
The residents had received no information on safety for the village, and the line was to run as close as 600 ft to their homes. According to this report, BP itself had created a policy of securing a 1,640-ft safety zone around the entire pipeline project where construction of such things as schools and hospitals was forbidden. Understandably, the village residents were very anxious.
Demonstrations near the pipeline construction area were broken up by the regional police, which caused even more hard feelings. The project proceeded only after residents were assured by BTC management that all proper safety precautions were being taken. The people confronted government agencies and various nongovernmental organizations with their protests, said the Young Lawyers, because the villagers knew nothing of a grievance review mechanism. They said the functions of the community liaison officers are only discussed in the projects’ official documents, which are less accessible to local residents.
According to BP (May 25, 2005), the BTC partners have contributed more than $100 million to community investment, environmental, and cultural heritage protection programs among 454 communities along the pipeline’s route. At current oil prices, the major oil and gas fields and pipelines would provide revenues to Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey of more than $150 billion between 2005 and 2024.
It remains to be seen how that money will be used. The economic growth and security of the region depend on how wisely it is spent.