Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
Coalition Govt. did no assessment of oil spill risk before preparing national oil spill plan
– Document not in keeping with int’l guidelines or best practices – AG Report
Kaieteur News – Guyana’s National Oil Spill Contingency Plan, which was crafted under the former A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) Coalition Government, was found to be weak, hallow and not in keeping with many international guidelines or best practices.
This was revealed by Auditor General, Deodat Sharma during a performance audit of the Plan.
In fact, Sharma said the authors of the document failed to evaluate even the slightest risk offshore for an oil spill. This fundamental step being skipped has left Sharma wondering just how effective the plan would be when it is not informed by the best or worst case scenario.
Auditor General, Deodat Sharma
In his report, Sharma said the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) is designated in the national plan as the Competent National Authority (CAN). As the CNA, it has overall responsibility for responding to oil spills, and the authority to make and implement decisions to mitigate the impacts of oil spills. The roles and responsibilities of the other government agencies that will provide support to the Commission are also identified and defined.
Of significance Sharma said, is the fact that not all of the essential components of a national contingency plan in keeping with international guidelines and best practices were addressed in Guyana’s document.
One of the key elements Guyana’s plan makes no mention of pertains to a comprehensive risk assessment to inform contingency planning.
Sharma said he was surprised to learn this was not done as it is a fundamental step for completing the plan. Expounding on the importance of this stage, Sharma said conducting a comprehensive risk assessment of the risk of oil spills is the “first step” in the development of a National Contingency Plan to ensure plans are developed in the context of the risks they are intended to address.
The Auditor General further noted that the aim of such a step is to identify measures to reduce and manage the risks of spills, and the impacts should a spill occur. He said results of the risk assessment should be used to inform the development of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan and response policies.
He categorically stated that, “a comprehensive risk assessment was not conducted by the Civil Defence Commission to inform the development of Guyana’s National Contingency Plan.”
In the absence of this assessment, Sharma said the following could not be determined: on what basis the National Plan was developed e.g. how hazards associated with offshore facilities and operations were identified; the related threats, the circumstances which may trigger such events, and the potential characteristics of such events; how possible oil spill incidents were chosen for response planning; how response strategies were formulated; and how response tactics and requirements were determined.
In response, the CDC said the plan “was indeed developed in the absence of a comprehensive risk assessment.” The CDC said it did indicate in “many instances” that there is a need to conduct these assessments following the development of the plan.
The Commission said, “To do so requires an independent consultant who is versed and has specialist skills in risk assessments related to oil spill response and marine and environmental pollution.”
In the absence of such assessment, the CDC said it was still important for a plan to be developed nonetheless with the understanding that it will be constantly updated to reflect the changes based on new information and Guidance.
The CDC said the plan proceeded with the advice and guidance of the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency, Information and Training Centre – Caribe (RAC-REMPEITC) and with some technical support from the Association of Oil, Gas and Renewable Energy Companies of Latin America and the Caribbean (ARPEL).
In the absence of a risk assessment, the Commission said the country took the advice to proceed with the plan and in the event it was confronted by any spill, it could at minimum respond and manage in a coordinated manner.
This year, the CDC said an assessment of scenarios was conducted and the matrix was developed to guide planning and response. It said this will be included in subsequent revisions of the National Oil Spill Plan.
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