Govt. issues order to acquire 70 acres of West Demerara lands for gas pipeline

Jan 08, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana between January 4 and 6 this year commenced the issuance of Orders in the Official Gazette for the acquisition of lands for its Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project.

In the public documents it could be understood that the Administration will be acquiring a total of some 70.6 acres of lands on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD). This is to facilitate the pipeline, which will transport natural gas from the Liza Unity and Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Vessels in the Stabroek Block to the Wales development site where the gas will be processed and put to use.

In Bordeaux, Canal Number One, the Legal Order signed by Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill said two plots will be acquired amounting to 10.5 acres.

At Java, the Legal Supplement said another 21.1 acres will be acquired for the project, while at Vreed-en-Hoop, Klein Pouderyoen, rear of Malgre Tout and Versailles, some 12.9 acres more of land will be acquired.

In the villages of Union, Rotterdam, Mary and Haarlem, Wallers Delight, Ruimzeight and Vreed-en-Hoop, a further 12.4 acres, according to the Order, will be obtained for the pipeline route.

Map showing the proposed route of the natural gas pipeline (Source: GTE EIA)

Finally, in the villages of Alliance and Resource, another 13.7 acres of land will acquired by the state.

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo at his final press conference for 2022 had told members of the media that the Government will be moving to compulsorily acquire lands for the project.

He explained that the Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall, SC has been leading the front on this matter and while “there are people who have signed agreements and there are others who are refusing to sign, they would have to compulsorily acquire.”

When asked about the total value of the lands that Government will be paying residents for, Jagdeo said he would try to get the details shared with this newspaper, as it was not available to him at that time.

In September 2022, the AG met with about 25 landowners who received a proposal from the Government to buy over part of their lands to facilitate the 12-inch pipeline.

The structure will be 190 kilometres long and planted underground for safety. Nandlall had told this newspaper 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.

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.”

In ExxonMobil’s environmental studies for the project, it was clearly stated that the venture can result in chronic hardships for farmers. Nonetheless, Exxon has already received approval from the Environmental Protection Agency to commence the laying of the pipeline.