Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
Govt., and Opposition MPs a no-show at Exxon’s public meetings on 8th project
Kaieteur News- When one thinks of a Member of Parliament (MP), they often think of representation; representation of the people. As elected officials, they are entrusted to act on behalf of citizens, which means showing up, engaging and often times taking other necessary action to make proper representation of the people.
A public scoping meeting was poorly attended on Friday at the Diamond Primary School, East Bank Demerara
This past week, American oil major ExxonMobil, commenced a series of public scoping meetings, specifically geared towards engaging the wider public on its largest offshore development to date, the Longtail project.
These meetings, which kicked off in Region One are held in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and allows Exxon and its consultant to share information about the upcoming development and engage communities on their specific concerns or questions they may have, some of which may be addressed in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that will be conducted.
Most citizens are not only unaware of the purpose of these meetings, but have shown a lack of knowledge but keen interest in the ongoing offshore activities. The meetings hosted so far by Exxon have seen no more than a handful of people at various venues. Some were even delayed by as much as an hour as a result of poor attendance. Most disappointingly however is perhaps the fact that not a single “representative of the people” showed up to any of these meetings hosted to date, at the coastal locations.
Two meetings were held on Monday and Wednesday in Region One but were not attended by this newspaper. It is unclear whether any government or Opposition MPs were in attendance; however, two meetings were subsequently held in Region Four on Thursday and Friday, none of which saw the attendance of any elected officials. Another meeting held in Region Three on Thursday again was not attended by any of the MPs.
This has caused concern, especially since these officials are expected to look out for the interest of Guyanese and hold these multinational corporations to account. Instead, citizens with their little knowledge turned out to enquire about the company’s operations and seek answers on impact, in some regard, while others were interested in how they can benefit more from opportunities and initiatives funded by Exxon. It should be noted that while the participation from ordinary citizens is crucial to the process, one would expect elected representatives of the people, with more knowledge of the industry, to be in attendance to add another layer of scrutiny to the company.
Further, some citizens may consider the attendance of elected representatives as a confidence booster for them, and that they- the MPs- are seriously engaged in this massive oil sector, especially relative to potential impacts on Guyanese communities.
The public scoping meetings will continue this week, with two meetings scheduled for Monday in Region Five at the Mahaicony Technical and Vocational Training Center, Mahaicony and at the Regional Democratic Council Boardroom in Fort Wellington, West Coast Berbice.
On Tuesday, Exxon will engage citizens at the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) Training Centre Hostel, Port Mourant, Berbice before shifting to Region Two on Thursday for a meeting at the Town Hall, Anna Region, Essequibo Coast.
The Longtail public scoping meetings will conclude in Region Four on Friday at the Mon Repos/ La Reconnaissance Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Lusignan Community Centre Ground, East Coast Demerara.
(Govt., and Opposition MPs a no-show at Exxon’s public meetings on 8th project)
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