Moattama Gas Transportation Company Operator: Total Myanmar/Burma...PREFACE: The Corporate Engagement Project (CEP) is a collaborative effort, involving multinational corporations that operate in areas of socio-political tensions or conflict. Its purpose is to help corporate managers better understand the impacts of corporate activities on the contexts in which they work. Based on site visits, CEP aims to identify and analyze the challenges for corporations that recur across companies and across contexts. Based on the patterns that emerge, CEP develops management tools and practical options for management practices that respond to local challenges and address stakeholder issues. In this context, Doug Fraser, Independent Consultant, and Luc Zandvliet, Project Director of CEP, visited Myanmar from April 22 ? May 3, 2003 to visit the Yadana pipeline project, operated by Total, as a follow up to our first visit conducted in October 2002. This visit was the second CEP visit to the Yadana Project in what is planned as a series of three visits. To avoid duplication, this report should be read in combination with the first report (available at http://www.cdainc.com/cep/cep-casestudylist.htm). Our purpose, as in all CEP field visits, was to examine the interaction between corporate operations and surrounding communities, as well as the impact of corporate operations on the wider context of conflict. The CEP team intends to visit Thailand to explore allegations from several international NGOs that people originating from the pipeline area were displaced into Thailand. If people had to leave Myanmar/Burma recently for reasons related to the pipeline or the presence of oil companies, this would be important for CEP to know. The trip will serve the following purposes: * To learn additional information related to the impact of the pipeline on local civilians. We want to address the possibility that we only hear positive stories about the pipeline from people currently residing in the corridor, while people that were possibly forced to leave the corridor might tell of a different reality... * To verify why CDA?s observations in the pipeline area differ from the observations in some of the reports produced by international NGOs about the impact of the pipeline on the local contexts... * To explore rumors in the business community in Thailand and Myanmar/Burma (and among NGOs themselves) that some NGOs make a ?business” of producing allegations against companies, based on testimonies from Myanmar/Burmese refugees. This is of concern to CEP because if CEP is unable to confirm allegations that ?NGOs fabricate ?evidence,” it supports the credibility of the NGOs that make allegations or advocate on behalf of Myanmar/Burmese refugees. On the other side, if the fabrication of evidence is confirmed, this would support sentiments in the business community that allegations should not be taken seriously. This undermines the ability of individuals with genuine grievances against companies to be heard... We attempted to arrange the trip from Bangkok to Northern Thailand to precede this visit, but logistically it was not feasible (during the water festival), and therefore the trip has been postponed to coincide with the third visit. Because we were examining the operations of the Yadana project, in this report we consistently refer to Total?s role as the operator of the project. However, our observations concern all joint venture partners. The point of departure for any CEP visit is what we observe on site and what we hear that is substantiated both by examples and by consistent repetition. Although familiarity with the history of a project and region is indispensable for understanding current operations and policies, we neither validate nor invalidate past operational policies or their impacts, unless we observe these in current dynamics. We invite feedback on the observations laid out in this report. We hope, as well, that this report will contribute to broader discussions within the company and between the company and stakeholders, on the options for corporate engagement in the Myanmar/Burma context. After the introduction, in which our methodology is explained, the report is divided into two parts. The first section reports on the direct and indirect impacts of the Yadana project within the pipeline area. Direct impacts take place through the Socio-Economic Program implemented by the company. But equally important, according to villagers, is the indirect impact of Total?s presence on the human rights situation in general, and forced labor in particular, in the immediate region. The second section explores the company?s impact on the broader national context. Addressing both the local impacts as well as the impacts of the pipeline on the national social and political level is a challenge for any company working in the country. In order to address these challenges, Total will need to develop a clear vision and coherent strategy to support this vision. We will discuss some of the building blocks for such a strategy and suggest options that could enable the company to constructively address these challenges while continuing its operations.