Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
Norton to Govt: ‘Address liabilities of Exxon’s Gas-to-Energy pipeline’
…says citizens could be left fighting for protection in Court
Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana (GoG) has been mum regarding incidents that can occur along the 225 kilometers natural gas pipeline being constructed by ExxonMobil.
Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton
The pipeline is a key component of the controversial US$2B Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project that is intended to deliver 300 megawatts of cleaner and more affordable electricity. In the absence of any signed documents relative to the project, citizens remain anxious about the dangers posed by the structure and its likely impact on their lives and livelihoods.
When questioned about how government would repay Exxon for the structure should an explosion occur, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo last year told a reporter from Kaieteur News that the publication should change its morbid attitude.
Jagdeo said, “Can we get out of this morbidity, is Kaieteur News a morbid? Imagine we must not build the power plant because we might have an explosion there. This is in effect what you are saying…which government starts off by… anywhere in the world… by saying that oh we are not going to pursue a development or we are gonna make mitigating plans to pay back a facility if we have an explosion?”
He continued, “Nobody builds a facility on the basis of that. Nobody builds a facility on the basis of future explosion.” The Vice President then went into detail to regurgitate the benefits of the project.
With just a few months remaining before ExxonMobil completes construction of the pipeline, Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton has called for government to address matters regarding compensation for citizens who can be affected by an explosion or similar incident.
During his recent press conference, Norton explained that the Opposition is deeply concerned that the gas pipeline will pass through residential areas. He said, “you would recall that our position was you need to be careful with the pipeline. In fact, before I became Leader of the Opposition, the (former) government APNU/AFC was exploring the question of the pipeline and actually had a feasibility study.”
He added that when he became Leader of the Opposition, the Oil and Gas Committee agreed and proposed the use of ISO containerized gas, instead of the pipeline, since he believes the latter has a number of disadvantages.
With the pipeline now 60% complete and ready to be delivered to government by year end, Norton stated, “Yes, we are deeply concerned about an explosion, we are deeply concerned that it is close and virtually passing through communities, we are deeply concerned about that.”
He was keen to note that while government is yet to address compensation for any mishaps that occur along the pipeline, citizens may end up in the Courts fighting for full protection, as they were forced to do for Exxon’s oil production activities in the Stabroek Block.
Norton said, “We know the people might have to end up in the Court, but our preference is for them not to have to go to Court. Let us put the systems in place to ensure that we don’t end up in that position because Court don’t bring back people’s lives, Court don’t repair the environment and we have to look in that direction.”
The pipeline being built by ExxonMobil will transport gas from the Liza One and Liza Two projects to the Wales development site. The government is constructing a Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) facility and a gas-fired power plant is expected to come on stream in 2025.
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