The Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change has expressed concern over government’s decision to go ahead with oil and gas exploration on Lake Malawi in the absence of a petroleum policy and a revised Petroleum Act.
When the country commemorated the World Water Day in Mangochi recently, President Peter Mutharika indicated that the exploration would go ahead despite reservations from environment activists that Malawi risks losing more if it goes ahead with the plan.
On Tuesday, the committee summoned officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, the departments of Mines and of Parks and Wildlife to explain why the government is going ahead with the process.
Werani Chilenga, the committee’s chairperson, argued that the government should be in the forefront setting a good example to Malawians by not breaking the law.
“We don’t have a policy in place and we are using an outdated law, the 1983 Petroleum Act, which vests all petroleum products in the hands of the life president. We are not comfortable with this scenario,” he said.
Chilenga said his committee is not against oil exploration as the move would boost the country’s economy, but they are against “shortcuts” the government is employing.
A member of the committee, Esther Jolobala of Machinga East, told the government officials that they are misleading Mutharika on the matter.
But Chief Mining Engineer Cassius Chiwambo—who was among the key presenters at the meeting—disputed the claim, observing that the government decided it was sensible to proceed with oil exploration using the 1983 Petroleum Act.
He said they decided to go ahead with the process because they had already issued licences, hence it would have been unfair to tell the investors to stop the exploration.
“We acknowledge that we don’t have a petroleum policy. We have a whip in our hand which is the 1983 Petroleum Act which was approved by the same Parliament. Someone might wonder why the law was established without a policy. A policy can exist in two forms: in a hard form or an abstract manner. In abstract, you just know what you want to achieve,” he explained.
Chiwambo further said the ministry would ensure that the policy is developed before the end of the year and that investors were warned that they may have to make changes in their operations to reflect the new policy should it be adopted.
A report by Oxfam Malawi some time ago faulted the issuance of oil exploration licences, stating that several procedures had not been followed.
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