Powerful, wealthy global oil companies routinely partner with repressive or corrupt regimes, allow environmental and human rights practices that would never be tolerated in the U.S. or Europe, offer grossly inadequate sums to clean up the disasters that result, and then blame the local government or its local partners.
They feel that Capco has put them between a rock and a hard place: they're being forced to choose between accepting an inadequate lump sum in return for moving out or having their rent for Zamazingo sent through the roof, effectively putting them out of business anyway.
She considered the sum inadequate, however, and continued to believe that she was poor.
Mr Sudarsono agrees that although the defence budget has now been raised to $3.6 billion, it remains inadequate; he compares this sum, spent to defend a nation of 226m people, with the $4.6 billion that tiny Singapore spends to defend 5m people.
He called the one-off lump sum "wholly inadequate" and said the RMT was "extremely concerned" about the time limit applied to the no compulsory redundancy commitment.
In time the U.S. government persuaded the Mexicans to pay $130 million in compensation for the confiscation, but oil companies thought the sum was inadequate.
Loral has said both sums were inadequate.
Senate Democratic leaders said that the House sum was wholly inadequate, and that Congress should not have to offset the costs.
President Bush has proposed spending $153 billion on drug benefits and unspecified "Medicare reforms" over the next 10 years, but Democrats say that sum is grossly inadequate, and the foundation's study may provide new ammunition to both sides.
Those who accept the payment will have to sign a waiver stating that they will not sue BP. "If you think the lump sum payment is inadequate, don't sign," he said, adding that the litigation route in court will mean uncertainty, years of delay and a big cut for the lawyers.
