The Obama
administration wants U.S. taxpayers to finance the creation of
energy-management doctorate and master’s degree programs at a university in the
East African nation of Uganda.
Obama, through the U.S. Agency for International
Development, wants to help “current and future Ugandan professionals” and
others to develop expertise “in sound environmental management and biodiversity
conservation in relation to oil and gas development.”
Before doing so, however, those same taxpayers and other
interested parties have a chance to submit comments to USAID on the proposed
endeavor.
The USAID/Uganda Education for Environmentally Sound Oil
Management initiative, as it is known, plans to hire contractors to create
Ph.D. and other post-graduate programs at Makerere University, Uganda’s largest
institution of higher learning.
While the invitation for comments primarily is designed for
contractors seeking clarification of the USAID project’s draft Statement of
Work, or SOW, all members of the public may submit their suggestions or
opinions. U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor discovered the document during routine database research.
The oil industry views Uganda as Africa’s “hottest inland
exploration frontier,” since the land-locked country contains “an estimated 2.5
billion barrels of known recoverable reserves, and an estimated potential of
six billion barrels,” USAID points out in the draft SOW.
Challenges confront the development of the reserves because
of their proximity to the Albertine Rift. The region is home to Murchison Falls
National Park, “a popular tourist destination with sensitive habitat important
for biodiversity conservation.”
An international treaty known as the Ramsar Convention has
designated the Murchison Falls–Albert Delta Wetland System as a “Wetland of
International Importance.”
The selected contractor first will assess Makerere
University’s capacity to carry out such a program. It then will create and
implement oil management curricula for advanced degree programs, provide
on-the-job training of professors and eventually offer a continuing education
program.
The contractor finally will launch an environmental
management and biodiversity research initiative for the university. As part of
that research endeavor, it would disseminate or publish its research findings
with the goal of building “the capacity and knowledge base of the Ugandan oil
sector.”
Comments must be submitted by 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Oct. 17
and sent to KampalaUSAIDSolicita@usaid.gov with “Comments on SOW, USAID/Uganda
Education for Environmentally Sound Oil Management” in the subject line.
A similar version of this article originally appeared via WND on Oct. 13, 2012. Rights have reverted back to the author, Steve Peacock.
FOR ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S AFRICA PAGE and UGANDA PAGE.
FOR FURTHER COVERAGE OF THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.
