Region 3 landowners fume over pipeline for Gas-to-Energy project

Sep 25, 2022 News

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…as Govt. proposes to buy over lands

By Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – About 25 land owners on Friday afternoon received a proposal from the Government of Guyana (GoG) to buy over part of their lands to facilitate the 12-inch pipeline to transport gas from the Liza Fields in the Stabroek Block to Wales, West Bank Demerara.

Leading the discussion with the land owners was Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, S.C. Also in attendance at the meeting, which was venued at the West Demerara Secondary School, was Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat, Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill, Project Head for the GTE project, Winston Brassington and officials from the Housing Department.

It was explained that works for the project are scheduled to commence in October, hence the need to complete the land acquisition process in a timely manner.

Minister Nandlall in an interview with this publication said that government first amended the legislation to remove the power of acquiring lands in the pathway of the pipeline from the licensee and placed it in the hands of the government. This was done strategically with a view of ensuring the people’s interests receive paramount consideration, the AG noted, while adding it must “not (be) left at the whims and fancy of any private company.” Nandlall explained, “We believe that the government would be responsible in ensuring that the negotiations and engagements with the people are both fair to the government as well as fair to the people.”

In moving the process forward, the AG said the path of the pipeline was then plotted and published in the Official Gazette as required by law. He was keen to note that in deciding on the route of the pipeline government ensured that it – as far as possible – fell alongside public lands so as to minimize the pipeline interfering with private property.

Importantly, he told Kaieteur News that the land was also demarcated with enough excess on both sides of the structure to create a “buffer” zone. This will ensure that private property is not affected when maintenance works are required, among others.

Next, the AG said, “we did a survey and got the names of all the private property owners who are affected and they were served with notice of the survey. That was done and the area of land demarcated in a survey plan and then we took that plan and that area of land to the government evaluation department and a value was placed for each. We are doing it in phases.”

The landowners who received an offer for their lands are located between Nouvelle Flanders and Canal Number One. Nandlall said the next step would be to meet with land owners between Canal and Wales.

Each affected landowner received a document containing the name of the person, the area of the land, size of it and the value. According to the Legal Affairs Minister, “the idea is that the people will receive compensation at fair market value (or) at current market value.”

When asked if government will be finding lands to relocate the affected parties Nandlall said, “Different options are being explored but the underlying principle is market value and arriving at a consensual position with the people whether it’s money or whether it’s alternative arrangements can be arrived at but at the end of the day we want agreement. We don’t want disaffection.”

Farmers’ contention

This publication spoke with a number of landowners who said they are not satisfied with the offer made by government for their lands. One farmer for example explained that the offer made did not take into consideration the earnings made from the property that would be affected.

The farmer told Kaieteur News, “I don’t think the valuation considers the earnings that we get from the land by planting rice. They just gave a flat value of that but they don’t consider that every month we earn on this land so they should consider how it would affect us when they take it away from us.”

A landowner in Canal Number One then explained that even though government will only require part of his land, his farming activity will be completely disrupted hence he does not believe he received a fair offer for compensation. The man, who is employed at a government office, asked to remain anonymous. He explained, “I am one of the land owners that will be extremely affected. According to what they are saying it will be about six acres they need. My concern is, if you taking half of the land I can’t do anything else on the other half so it’s kind of pointless because they are saying there will be a fence on either side of the pipe and they will have some sort of security or something so I would have to move off of the land because I can’t farm on it, I can’t live there, I can’t burn anything on the land because of the pipeline. I plant pineapples, tangerines, plantains and other cash crops. I born and grow there and my father got the land from his grandfather and so I am currently 29 years old. It will affect me a lot. I am looking forward to a call from whichever lawyer they say they are gonna propose to us but this offer I can’t work with it.”

Also, the young man said he is fearful that a gas leak may occur and start a chain reaction; hence he may be forced to discontinue his great grandparents’ legacy.

A female landowner who did not state her name shared, “we been living here we whole life now they just want come and disrupt your whole system. Not the entire land will be affected but still you are being disrupted. Exxon had sent a young lady and I asked what would happen if it explode and they said it would be underground nine feet but I don’t know how much land they really taking but I am waiting on next week to hear what they would say.”

Another male rice farmer at Nouvelle Flanders said his property was owned by his family for almost 150 years now. “I am 51 years now and I am a rice farmer. They just disrupt we whole life now and I don’t know if we will earn anything.”

Meanwhile, another landowner said he has two lots that will be affected by the pipeline in Canal Number One. He explained that the property is particularly close to him as it has been in his family for five generations.

Another farmer told Kaieteur News that his concern is nestled in being cut off from the access dam to his lands in Canal Number One. “Them taking the access dam from we and that is the issue because when they take the dam, we don’t have anywhere to go in and out. We planting rice and tangerine and everything in Canal Number One. I born and grow there and I’s 45 right now,” he related.

It must be noted that at Friday’s meeting, affected property owners were told by Minister Nandlall that they would be contacted by lawyers from the government to listen to their specific concerns and counter proposal. He also told the citizens that they were free to secure the services of their own lawyers if they so desired.

Respect for process and procedure

While some landowners were particularly concerned about how they would be affected by the natural gas pipeline, one property owner, Elizabeth Deane-Hughes said she was bothered about the government’s respect for process and procedure with the project.

She told this newspaper at the sidelines of Friday’s meeting that after speaking with a number of landowners, she does not believe the land acquisition process is being carried through in accordance with legal requirements.

Deane-Hughes, an Attorney-at-Law said, “This is about our lives, our livelihoods and our lands and most people have owned these lands for generations. This is a right of way (ROW) for the pipeline, they should have known this before the fact. You can’t be coming now and trying to figure out how people are going to access their lands. That is a disrespect that is unacceptable.”

To this end, she pointed out, “I have no problems with pipeline, what I have a problem with is the lack of respect for process and procedure…we have had it with the (Environmental Impact Assessment) EIA, we now have it with land acquisition because people were not given notices of surveys so that is a legal issue that can be made. A lot of persons that I spoke to, whose numbers I now have – we are going to organise and we are going to stand up as one head and one Guyana against this.”

The attorney said that a survey was done but to conduct the survey, at least seven days notice must be given. However, she told this newspaper that some of the landowners she spoke with did not receive a notice even though the surveys were completed.

“I also know in Canal Number One, they surveyed and then gave the notice after…so right there and then, we have process and procedure issues,” Deane-Hughes added.

The GTE project

The GTE project will involve capturing associated gas produced from crude oil production operations on the Liza Phase 1 (Destiny) and Liza Phase 2 (Unity) Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessels, transporting approximately 50 million standard cubic feet per day.

It will entail three components inclusive of the pipeline, a Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) facility to treat and separate the gas and a power plant to generate 300 megawatts of electricity.

The project has a planned life cycle of at least 25 years.

In ExxonMobil’s environmental studies for the project, it was clearly stated that the venture can result in chronic hardships for farmers. This newspaper had reported that hardships for farmers within close proximity to the plant and pipeline can be affected, as impacts to their agricultural products could extend beyond the construction phase to the operations stage of the facility.

The EIA explains that the project’s use of land when construction starts and during the operation stage will reduce access to land for agriculture and other purposes. It added that the loss of access to personal properties can result in temporary and/or permanent economic displacement for people who may depend on these lands for their livelihoods, employment, and/or income-generating activities.

The document pointed out that this impact will be relevant to rice fields, north and south of Crane, West Minister/Lust-en-Rust rice fields and pineapple and mixed crops in the northern part of Canal Number Two and the south and northern half of Canal Number One.

Beyond the construction phase, farmers can brace for additional impacts as their overall quality of produce can be reduced. The document says that, “the Project could also result in a change in the quality of agricultural crops harvested from the Primary Study Area. This could result as an indirect effect of dust deposition during the construction stage, which could conceivably extend beyond the project footprint to affect adjacent areas.”
The EIA said that construction activities could generate dust through vegetation clearing, earthworks, and movement of equipment and vehicles on unpaved surfaces. Dust emissions from construction areas could be deposited on nearby crops, and could adversely affect crop growth or productivity.

 

 

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