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Public Hearing or ‘Hearing Public’? An Evaluation of the Participation of Local Stakeholders in Environmental Impact Assessment of Ghana’s Jubilee Oil Fields

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Abstract

This article investigates the involvement of local stakeholders in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes of Ghana’s first off-shore oil fields (the Jubilee fields). Adopting key informants interviews and documentary reviews, the article argues that the public hearings and the other stakeholder engagement processes were cosmetic and rhetoric with the view to meeting legal requirements rather than a purposeful interest in eliciting inputs from local stakeholders. It further argues that the operators appear to lack the social legitimacy and social license that will make them acceptable in the project communities. A rigorous community engagement along with a commitment to actively involving local stakeholders in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes of the partners may enhance the image of the partners and improve their social legitimacy. Local government agencies should be capacitated to actively engage project organisers; and government must mitigate the impact of the oil projects through well-structured social support programmes.

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Notes

  1. Tullow Ghana Limited, Kosmos Ghana HC, Anadarko WCTP Company, Sabre Oil and Gas, the EO Group, and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.

  2. For a thorough discussion of the various aspects of legitimacy, refer to: SUCHMAN, M. C. l. Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches. The Academy of Management Review, 20, 571-610.

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Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the immense contribution of all interviewees, who, despite the short notice agreed to participate in this study and shared their experiences. I also want to thank Ms. Esinam Kayi for transcribing most of the interviews. The very thorough reviews from the four anonymous reviewers played a significant role in getting this article to this level and for their contribution and time, I wish to express my gratitude to them.

Conflict of interest

The author is a shareholder of Tullow Ghana Ltd.

Funding

Funding for this research was provided by the University of Ghana Business School through the Research and Conferences Committee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Administration and Health Services Management, University of Ghana Business School, P. O. Box LG 78, Legon, Accra, Ghana

    Justice Nyigmah Bawole

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  1. Justice Nyigmah Bawole
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Correspondence to Justice Nyigmah Bawole.

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Bawole, J.N. Public Hearing or ‘Hearing Public’? An Evaluation of the Participation of Local Stakeholders in Environmental Impact Assessment of Ghana’s Jubilee Oil Fields. Environmental Management 52, 385–397 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-013-0086-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-013-0086-9

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