Justice Kissoon Ruling…Govt. appeal to Justice Kissoon’s ruling bound to fail – Opposition says

May 10, 2023 News

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…ready to support applicants all the way to CCJ

Kaieteur News – Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, is confident that the Government’s appeal of Justice Sandil Kissoon’s ruling, regarding the parent company guarantee to cover costs associated with an oil spill, occurring in the Stabroek Block, is bound to fail.

In fact, the Opposition Leader said he is ready to support the applicants in their fight, even if it means doing so at the Caribbean Court of Court (CCJ). Norton was at the time responding to questions from the media, during a virtual press conference on Tuesday when he noted, “I am convinced that wherever it goes, the ruling will be in favour of the plaintiffs in the sense that they are on the right side of the law.”

While responding to a specific query on whether the party is ready to lend its support to the citizens should the matter reach the CCJ, the leader said, “we are prepared to back people. We are prepared to ensure that Guyanese take all the legal action but we hope that good sense would prevail and that the PPP wouldn’t appeal this decision.”

In his opening statement, Norton reasoned that the government must understand that investment can be welcomed by a government while it pursues the interest of its people simultaneously. As such, he said it is worrying that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo is now intervening in the judicial sector by presenting the notion that judges “should make predictable decisions.” The Leader of the Opposition argued, “The role of the judge is to follow the law. Their response to the ruling is a clear indication that Jagdeo and the PPP (People’s Progressive Party) do not believe in the rule of law and democracy. They practice authoritarianism.”

He also said that while Jagdeo seemingly does not understand the difference between insurance coverage and an unlimited parent company guarantee, it is “deceitful” for the VP to mention calculating a premium when there is no need for such. Rather, “It is a mere guarantee that the parent company will cover the cost over and above the insured value,” Norton pointed out. He explained, “The legal requirement as written into the permit mandates that ExxonMobil covers “any” and “all” costs for the cleanup and restoration in the event of an oil spill “if EEPGL fails to do so” due to its limited resources.”

In this regard, Norton contended that appealing this case would be a waste of taxpayers’ money by the administration. “To appeal this case is to appeal against our own environmental laws, and against the safety and health of our people. It is selfish and a manifestation that they do not care a damn about the people of Guyana. To appeal this case is further confirmation that Jagdeo and the PPP serve only their elite, friends, families and favourites.” Norton urged the government not to appeal the Judge’s decision, which he said promotes and protects the interest of Guyanese. Appealing the decision, according to Norton, would leave no doubt that the administration is anti-people regime and unpatriotic.

On May 3, Justice Kissoon said that, “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has relegated itself to a state of laxity of enforcement and condonation compounded by a lack of vigilance thereby putting this nation and its people in grave potential danger of calamitous disaster.”

This was so as the body failed to ensure enforce the provisions of the Liza One Permit for full liability coverage. The Judge said EPA failed and omitted to mandate compliance by Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEGL) with its financial assurance obligations of environmental liability insurance together with an unlimited parent company guarantee; the EPA also failed to take any meaningful step or any step whatsoever to assess what was provided to it by the oil company purportedly as the environmental liability insurance when it was not in fact in keeping with Condition 14 of the renewed permit. Importantly, it was also stated that despite failing to do the aforementioned, the EPA also failed to suspend/ cancel EEPGL’s renewed environmental permit even though the oil company made public pronouncements, communicating its intention to increase production levels.

An Order of Mandamus was granted directed to the EPA to issue an Enforcement Notice pursuant to Section 26(1) and (2) of the Environmental Protection Act, on or before May 9, 2023, directed to EEPGL to perform its obligations under condition 14 of the renewed environmental permit and to provide, within 30 days thereafter, on or before June 10, 2023 the unlimited liability Parent Company Guarantee Agreement and/or unlimited liability Affiliate Company Guarantee.

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• appeal, court, fail, parent guarantee

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