Clearing the way for gas-to-shore project

Oct 04, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – To the ordinary ear, it sounds like a great deal of money. The media reports are of the Guyana Government offering $1-4 million per acre to those in the direct pathway of the Wales Gas-to-Energy project (GTE). Residents in Canal Polder, Crane, and other surrounding areas on the West Demerara are having none of it, and are now seizing the opportunities that come their way to voice their concerns, alarms, and disagreements.

All Guyanese want cheap electricity, but not when their livelihoods and way of existence are disrupted, and the compensation figures arrived and leave them feeling severely shortchanged. By the considerations of those to be impacted, this does not simply boil down to the mere matter of the market value of the land they occupy, and nothing more. As far as residents are concerned, there is much more than market value of their land that is involved.

This is not simply of clearing the way for the Wales GTE by removing area residents from their homes and spaces, using the provisions in law, and giving them money in return. The residents are not just homeowners, so that they receive what is considered by Government to be a fair price for their lot, and they move on to start over somewhere else. It is not as simple as that, but far from it. It involves ownership and self-employment, hiring out oneself for wages, longstanding family holdings, and the anguish of wrenching disruptions from all that is known.

The Government insists that it desires to be fair to all involved, especially those immediately impacted. But, as Attorney General (AG), Anil Nandlall, SC, pointed out, the compensation offered must be fair to the Government, too. The AG also noted that every effort will be made by Government (and operators) to avoid affecting private property, through the creation of so-called ‘buffer zones’ so that GTE works do not interfere with residents’ space and way of life. Though compassionate sounding, the AG apparently ignored, or gave short thrift, to features usually associated with these kinds of massive developments.

For instance, noise pollution from all that heavy duty equipment and machinery constantly on the move to push the project forward. Another would be the resulting dust and other types of byproducts that follow from such operations. What price can be built into, or offered, for health and quality of life impacts, the damage to property, and their drop in appeal and value? Governments the world over are famous for highlighting the positives, while suppressing the negatives. Or appearing to give sincere attention to the complaints of those who feel the brunt of the consequences from what is given the thumbs up by many. As an example, we point to what is happening in New York and Massachusetts with the influx of migrants who everybody wanted to help, but suddenly don’t want them in their backyard because of legitimate fears of what it does to the way of life known.

On the citizens side of this GTE project, what is being articulated goes far beyond the price offered for land considered to be ‘in the way.’ One farmer pointed to the fact that the fair market value of the land does not factor in the earnings that would be lost by having to cease operations. Another expressed concerns over the Government readying to take and pay for half of his land, but wonders what he is going to do, and how he is going to manage, with the remaining half, considering there would be all these GTE activities. The issue of an underground pipeline raises genuine fears of undetected seepages, and even an explosion. The bottom line is that no matter how the AG tries to be reassuring, once signatures are affixed to paper, and monies are handed over, the Guyanese in the path of, or near to, that GTE project are on their own. The Government will stick to its story, which is that it acted fairly and generously, and that the time for objections and the rest is over.

Cheap and reliable electricity supply is urgently needed. But not at this cost, not in this manner, when the full range of impacts are still unknown.