They've actually cut their army by half in the last five years. But critics see the oil money as potentially destabilizing. Already, officials in Chad have threatened to execute people who oppose the project, they say. Ordinary Chadians on the bank's proposed oversight committee wouldn't feel safe speaking up against abuses in spending, they contend. Opponents have campaigned to postpone the project for two years, saying it shouldn't proceed until truly democratic institutions are in place in the two countries.
Environmental concerns focus more on Cameroon.
The bank has conducted major environmental studies and several times rerouted the pipeline, which would be underground, to reduce its impact. It claims that only four square miles of forest would be lost and only 80 families would be relocated. To environmentalists, a potentially bigger problem is indirect impact. Roads that would be cut through forest to build the pipeline would open up untouched areas of Cameroon to illegal logging. Environmentalists are also distrustful of promises by the oil companies to make sure oil isn't spilled.