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Govt. crafting law for transportation of oil to shield country from liability – VP Jagdeo
Kaieteur News – The government of Guyana is currently crafting legislation to protect this nation from liabilities that may arise during the transportation of crude oil.
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo
This was revealed on Thursday by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo during his weekly press conference hosted at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown.
He told reporters that long before the vessel capsized in Tobago and wreaked havoc on the island, the Guyana government commenced drafting a law to protect the nation from such liabilities.
Jagdeo said the Bill, in this regard, is likely to be laid in the National Assembly before Parliament takes its recess.
According to him, the legislation, once in place, will cover Guyana from “all sorts of liabilities”.
He explained, “We have been working to have legislation in place, and those will come probably before the next recess to cover all sorts of liabilities. A law in place like they have in the US and some other countries that will cover also transportation because we have more crude being transported in our jurisdiction so it’s not just liabilities of the oil companies but transport companies, etcetera and that’s been in the works a long time so that we can protect this country.”
The updated Petroleum Activities Act passed in the National Assembly in August last year does not address such events. The law at Part X ‘Transportation and Storage’ only regulates transportation and storage of petroleum via pipeline and gives the Minister power to grant access to third parties.
Earlier this month, a vessel capsized off the shores of Tobago, leaking oil into the nation’s waters. Fisherfolk on the island remain concerned over the loss of their livelihoods while authorities mobilize international assistance for response to the incident. The oil spill has since entered the marine territory of Grenada.
The Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard (TTCG) confirmed that at least two vessels were involved in the oil spill.
The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian reported that the Ministry of National Security said in a statement that even as investigations are continuing, video footage and other information, obtained by the TTCG, have confirmed that the two vessels are a tug boat and a barge.
It said the TTCG is collaborating with other local and regional agencies, including the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), the Guyana Coast Guard (GCG), the Maritime Services Division, and IR Consilium, through consultant Dr Ian Ralby, to identify the vessels and their owners.
The Alliance For Change (AFC) has said the spill should be an additional wake up call for Guyana.
Despite the fact Trinidad and Tobago has been an oil producing country for over a century and having had to deal with several major oil spills in the past, the AFC said the country was struggling to contain the recent spill. Taking this into account the opposition party said, “This unfortunate event should be an additional wake up call for Guyana.”
The AFC said currently, Guyana is producing 645,000 barrels of oil per day, representing about three times the daily volume of oil produced by Trinidad and Tobago at its peak, thus resulting in an increased risk. The opposition party said, “It is time that Guyana puts in place a comprehensive oil spill plan backed by provision of adequate resources and equipment, as well as ensure that the operators in all our oil blocks have in place full and unlimited liability coverage.”
Further to this, the AFC said it has taken note of the fact that the Tobago oil spill has now spread to the neighboring countries of Grenada and Venezuela. With this troubling development in mind, the AFC sought to remind that having in place unlimited liability coverage, not only covers the costs associated with the immediate oil cleanup efforts, but will also include the short, medium, and long costs associated with the damage to these countries’ tourism and fishing sectors.
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