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Sixth oil project to put strain on Guyana’s health sector – Exxon’s study
Kaieteur News – Guyana began producing oil at the end of 2019 and to date a total of six oilfield development plans have been approved. Three of these have since moved to a production phase. But with the introduction of each new project in Guyana, there is the concomitant influx of foreign workers.
This, together with the increased vehicular and marine traffic could increase the potential for project-related accidents, which could result in an increased use of medical and health resources in the Georgetown area, putting a strain on these facilities.
This much is documented in the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the ExxonMobil-led consortium’s sixth project in the Stabroek Block. The EIA, which has since been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency outlines that most project activities will be located offshore and will have no direct impacts on communities in Guyana.
It concedes however that project-related activities increase the introduction of foreign labour (expatriates) for the project workforce, that could lead to the potential increase in the risk of communicable diseases and overburdening the country’s already overwhelmed medical installations.
According to the EIA, the primary source of the impacts, would be from the “increased vehicular and marine traffic as a result of Project activities; Social interaction between foreign Project workers and residents, in particular with respect to a risk of transmission of communicable diseases.”
According to the EIA, “The Project will (also) increase the demand for hazardous and non-hazardous waste management services and infrastructure in Guyana and thus could potentially compete with other existing waste generators for limited waste management capacity.”
Other potential impacts cited with the introduction of its sixth development project, include increase use of public infrastructure and services, which could potentially compete with other existing businesses and consumers across a range of services such as roads, airports/helicopters, accommodations, and utilities.
As such, the project “will result in increased vehicular traffic in Georgetown, which could potentially contribute to vehicular congestion in certain areas.” Additionally, it was reiterated that project is generally anticipated to have a positive impact on the economy of Guyana as a result of government revenue sharing, as well as employment and local procurement opportunities. According to ExxonMobil’s EIA however, while the Project is also expected to build capacity in the local labor force, increase demand for skilled labor, and increase demand for service industries, “potential adverse impacts may include potential short-term increases in the cost of living as a result of increased demand for specific goods and services, and limited adverse impacts on fishing activities—and livelihoods stemming from those activities—as a result of marine safety exclusion zones or marine traffic.”
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