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Draft oil spill legislation may be open for scrutiny by local stakeholders – VP Jagdeo
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo
Kaieteur News – Stakeholders may have an opportunity to review the government of Guyana’s draft oil spill legislation, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo disclosed on Thursday. The Vice President was at the time speaking with reporters at his weekly press conference held at the Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown.
Notwithstanding, Jagdeo said the likelihood of oil companies being able to comment on the draft Oil Spill Act is slim.
The draft legislation aimed at ensuring the country is protected during the transportation of crude oil is expected to be tabled in the National Assembly before the House goes to recess.
“It may be tough to pass it because we may not have the requisite period for notice but I think we have enough time to table it. I expressed that concern, we don’t want to also rush it through the parliament because the other side would say that we are rushing it through the parliament but we would have enough time to table it,” he said.
The VP further explained that while the oil companies would love to have the chance to comment on the draft legislation since they have restrictions on how they operate in the sector.
“Well Exxon would love to give comments on this; I think they probably sent that question to Oil. Now and your editor asked you to do that, but we may solicit…I am not sure that we will open this one up for comments, especially from the oil and gas companies because they don’t want legislation of this nature. Maybe (we will) open it only for comments from the locals,” the VP added.
This draft legislation is expected to address key concerns surrounding oil spills and will play a crucial role in the country’s oil industry. With the government aiming to table this legislation before the parliamentary recess, it signifies a significant step towards ensuring environmental protection and safety within the sector.
Previously, the Vice President said, the new Oil Spill law will protect 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.”
Last week, Kaieteur News reported that the oil spill legislation is still on Government’s agenda before the Parliamentary recess. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira in an interview with Kaieteur News said that there are a number of bills the government intends to pass before the parliamentary recess.
“There are some that will have to layover to October and we’ll have to make judgments based on the urgency or the requirements. The oil spill one is one that has many interests and so I’m sure that once it’s ready and it has passed the Cabinet review and it fulfills what we want it to, then it will be tabled,” Teixeira said.
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