These communities will have difficulty speaking out about environmental and health impacts of the project, given the prevailing political climate in Chad and Cameroon. The U.S. State Department's Report on Human Rights says both governments have committed gross human rights abuses and show little respect for basic civil rights, including freedom of speech. The oil consortium's actions have not engendered faith among local communities or environmentalists in Chad, Cameroon or the West. Outside of elite government circles, few people in Chad or Cameroon have any detailed information about the project. Even the ministers have no updated information.
Secrecy pervades every aspect of the project.
Exxon will not allow foreign journalists to film or photograph its base camp in southern Chad's remote Doba region. When German journalist Martin Zint contacted Exxon in Germany before embarking for southern Chad, he was told that there were only a couple of trucks at the project site. But when he arrived, Zint discovered an Exxon camp complete with buildings, infrastructure and equipment. They seem to think that as long as there are no pictures, there will be no story. The companies are tightly managing project information in the United States as well.