MAHAMAT RAMADANE
CHAD’S government is working to ensure employees of Exxon Mobil’s Doba oilfield keep their jobs if a mooted sale of the company’s 40% stake to Savannah Energy goes through, Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke said on Thursday.
Workers at Doba staged a two-week strike in late June and early July, claiming Exxon had refused to guarantee they would be paid severance benefits if the concession is sold to another company and they are laid off.
Tensions flared again in late August when approximately 50 workers occupied the Doba airstrip in the hope of preventing a delegation from Savannah from entering the facility.
Exxon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. It has said it is working constructively to resolve any differences with its employees.
“Exxon’s situation with its employees is of great concern to the government,” Padacke said during a news conference. “We are working so that our compatriots who work for this multinational company keep their rights and their jobs.”
Padacke said he would not be opposed to a sale as long as it was done in accordance with Chadian labour laws.
Besides Doba, UK-based Savannah is also in talks to buy Exxon’s 40% interest in the Chad-Cameroon oil transportation pipeline.
