Liza 1 Permit expires next week

May 25, 2022 News

put this renewal on hold and extract a better deal
more Guyanese should challenge Exxon’s abuses in court

By Gary Eleazar
Touting the importance of Guyanese to challenge in the courts, the flagrant violations allegedly being perpetrated by Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL)—ExxonMobil Guyana against the people of Guyana, International Lawyer Melinda Janki is of the view that this is necessary in order to send the clear messages that the abuse would not be tolerated any further.

This was among the damning conclusions by Janki who during a webinar yesterday pronounced that the much vaunted oil bonanza in Guyana was only for the oil companies and not Guyana and that the country is presently on a path to disaster. This, she said, was not just economically but environmentally and socially. “The deal between government of Guyana and Exxon is one that is bad on every level,” she posited as she pointed out that under the present circumstances the oil operations represent, economically a disaster in the making.

International Lawyer, Melinda Janki

Environmentally it’s already a disaster for Guyana, she posited and cited as example that already citizens are witnessing the disappearance of the fishing industry which has since also affected the livelihoods of the fisherfolk.

Compounding the situation are the Climate Change impacts, she said adding that Guyana as a country is dependent on the Atlantic Ocean in a significant way. Apart from the legal problems, she was adamant that oil has been a disaster for Guyana and is on track for being even more disastrous for Guyana pointing to the oil curse. To this end, she noted that with the oil curse comes greater inequality and that Guyanese only have to look at the happenings to their neighbour in the west, Venezuela, a country with the largest reserves in the world. She noted that things have reached a stage in that country where Guyana has now stared to give refuge to some Venezuelans. The International Lawyer, who has already been successful in litigation filed against EEPGL told attendees that they have to be more proactive in filing action against the oil companies where infractions and wrong doings are seen.

Asked to respond to the event that the EPA did in fact refuse to renew the permit what obtains to the thousands of jobs that would be at stake, Janki was quick to remind that there are only a few hundred persons employed on the FPSO and furthermore should the permit not be renewed, “that’s a commercial problem.”

EPA Head, Kemraj Parsram

According to the Attorney at Law, “if your permit not renewed is part of any business plan…my concern is the people of Guyana not the commercial risk for any company…what I am talking about is protecting Guyana from an abusive and exploitative situation.”
She was adamant; the EPA has every right to refuse the permit, if the company cannot show that it is meeting requirements that are already encoded in Guyana’s legislation.
The Guyanese born lawyer used the occasion to also address the spending of the resources which she called worrying. “It’s extremely worrying to see the way the money is being spent on vanity projects” at a time when the citizenry are in need of better health, education services.
She noted that the way in which government is going about its business the oil money will not benefit the people of this country. Janki as such reiterated that in the prevailing situation it is really important that people go to court to see that the laws of the country are enforced.
According to Janki Guyanese must challenge the actions that they don’t like and it is only by publicly challenging Exxon in the courts and publicly coupled with political pressure, then the country can likely see a change. The Liza I is the first field to be developed by EEPGL in the Stabroek Block and saw first oil in December 2019. The Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessel (FPSO)—the Liza Destiny—is fed by a 17 well field. It is the permit for this operation which comes up for renewal or refusal by the EPA next week, and according to organisers, the people of Guyana may never see this money back, and as such, it is really important for Head of EPA, Kemraj Parsram to make the right decisions this coming week.