40 associations from Morocco, Nigeria and other African countries have signed a petition denouncing the construction of the Nigeria-Morocco offshore gas pipeline, said a communiqué sent by Attac Maroc Thursday to Yabiladi. In their written request, the African associations insisted that the construction of the pipeline, announced in December 2016, is expected to cost 20 million US dollars. «In reality, the actual costs will likely be much higher», insisted the same statement indicating that this pipeline would be a continuation of the existing 678 km long West African Gas pipeline (WAGP) that has been in service since 2010. It aims to serve 12 countries on the African continent and some 300 million potential consumers, with a possible extension to the Europe. According to the same communiqué, the associations that signed the document are concerned about this project which for them would «increase the extraction and consumption of fossil resource, the main cause of global warming». «The section already constructed (WAGP) was done without consulting the populations who rejected the environmental impact study», argued the same release adding that it «is likely that the forecast cost of US $ 20 billion will be probably doubled and will lead to an exponential increase of the debt burden of our countries». For other environmental and financial reasons, the organizations believe that the gas pipeline is «bad for the region, our peoples and the Planet».
