Dr. Bulkan laying it on the line

Jun 23, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – All Guyanese owe environmental activist, Dr. Janette Bulkan a word of gratitude for her stark and sobering appraisal of where this country would stand, what it potentially stares at, in the event of an oil spill of disastrous proportions. In sum, we are not only playing with fire, but Guyana is also recklessly dancing in a bonfire that could consume this country, leaving only ashes behind.

Should there be an oil spill of massive proportions, Guyanese could be looking at a probable indebtedness of more than US$20 billion annually. In such a catastrophic instance, countries in the region would be contemplating beaches and waters that are thick with oil and grease. Twelve countries could be watching their economic lifeline stretched and ruptured. For countries such as Aruba, Grenada, and St Lucia, those waters and beaches that sustain their national economies, the impact could be beyond devastating; it would be crippling. Tourism as a contributor to the Gross Domestic Product of those three countries in pre-Covid years was anywhere between 44% to 68%, or close to half and over two-thirds of national output. One does not even want to imagine the combined and extended consequences that would result from such an oil spill development and strike.

Dr. Bulkan, long a thoughtful and devoted activist, pointed to what happened in the Gulf of Campeche in 1971, when three barrels of oil were spilled over nine unending months, and the devastations that resulted from the spread. For some reason, the Government of Guyana has not recorded the level of urgent anxiety over the dangers and damages a big oil spill could inflict on this country. The PPPC Government, as led by its oil spearhead, Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, has been dogged in its determination to protect the interests of foreign oil companies operating offshore Guyana, even when this leaves Guyana precariously perched. To this point, we have not seen anywhere near the same energy and passion from either the Government or Vice President Jagdeo when protection of Guyana (and its neighbors) should have been the paramount concern. This is even in the face of Environmental Impact Assessments conducted for projects in the Stabroek Block that identify the risks present.

Nobody in his or her right mind is saying let’s leave the oil in the seabed. Rather, what is being said is that as we exploit this rich resource endowment, there must be prudent management of production, and the risks that accompany such. The PPPC Government and citizens have been informed about the possible effects of an oil spill, and which countries can be severely impacted. Neither should sit complacently on the cautions given, and be content with what is a far cry from robust protections that are needed to safeguard the results of our wealth, the welfare of our neighbors, and the prospects of the Guyanese people. To have settled for a ceiling of US$2 billion is not simply an error of judgment, but a failure of leadership will, and emphasizes the issues and concerns about where the first priorities of the PPPC Government are.

The citizens of this country are looking at a flashing red light that warns of a potential liability of US$20+billion annually. This does not consider the extent of damages to domestic fishing sectors, and the likely scenario of countless lawsuits for compensation filed by activists’ groups and citizens in the region. Guyana could be living with a nightmare of incalculable magnitude, where all the billions of barrels of oil come to nothing, such would be our liabilities. Yet, the sometimes hostile, sometimes disdainful, reaction of the Guyana Government, and Vice President Jagdeo, when a full parent company guarantee is placed on the table speaks volumes, gives rise to continuing fears about where the heart of both is.

The expectation is that the Vice President would be in the forefront of the fight to wring the right kind of insurance from ExxonMobil’s hand, except that he has not. There is only one acceptable kind of insurance, and it is that full parent company guarantee, meaning, unlimited. It is not US$2 billion, can never be. Not with over US$20 billion (really, US$27 billion netted) hanging on Guyana’s head.

Activist, consume, Dr. Janette Bulkan, Editorial, environmental

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Dr. Bulkan laying it on the line

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