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Free cooking gas since 2009…Grove family continues to benefit from accidental methane find
By Keeran Danny
It’s been four years since the Samaroo family has been cooking for free with methane gas found some 120 feet below their Grove, East Bank Demerara, backyard.
But family members are still anxiously waiting for Government to indicate if the State is still interested in exploiting the methane gas.
According to Rajendra Samaroo, the head of the family of four, he is willing to relocate his wife and two children from their home but is waiting on Government. In fact, he has not invested further in beautifying or modifying his house.
The apparatus sending methane gas to the Samaroo’s cooking stove
Samaroo is uncertain what plans Government has in store for his property but for some time now personnel of Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) have not visited. In addition, he was told that Government has not budgeted to execute works on his property this year.
Though Samaroo holds a transport for his land he believes that the true owner of the property and the natural resources found beneath the surface is the State.
“You can say we have a gold mine but remember we just have a transport for the land but the land belongs to the state. When you die only six feet you get. I will be glad to relocate,” he said.
In 2010, during an interview with Kaieteur News, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds said “The methane belongs to the State…it is not his (Samaroo’s) methane. It should be studied.”
He had suggested that the methane reserves could cover a substantial area in the Grove community and pointed out that it could also be unsafe for Samaroo and his family to remain in close proximity to the highly flammable gas.
It all started in March 2009, when some residents of the still-developing Grove Housing Scheme experienced irregular supply of water. To provide potable water for his family and neighbours, Samaroo made an arrangement with an engineer to drill for water.
What happened next stopped every initiative to access potable water. The engineer hit a pocket of methane gas. The subsequent eruption sent a fountain of water and mud spewing over 40 feet into the air.
A team from GGMC’s Petroleum Department surveyed the area and did several tests. Samaroo is unaware what those tests revealed but he is still using the simple apparatus made up of two tanks, pipelines and valves created by GGMC to send methane gas to his stove.
“There are two tanks. The one below has water and the one on top is empty so when you open the valve the gas passes through the water and go up to the top tank which is a vacuum. Now when you open the valve to cook the top tank becomes a vacuum and pushes gas. It cooks well. The pot doesn’t get ‘black pot’ and is easy for the wife,” he said.
The possibility of marketing methane gas to his neighbours is one Samaroo does not want to explore. If he were to do that it would require huge investments such as purchasing large tanks, pipelines, landscape and safety tests.
Moreover, he is uninterested in investing huge sums to satisfy his curiosity of what lies below the surface. He said any investments would have to be done by the State.
Samaroo purchased his land for about $120,000 from the Ministry of Housing many years ago. While the real estate value of his land is appreciating free methane gas is saving him roughly $84,000 annually.
If Government decides to leave the property with the Samaroo’s there is a possibility they would have a lifetime supply of cooking gas.
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