Dear Editor,
We are ecologically minded Guyanese who care about the environment and are concerned about the extended and dangerous gas flaring from the oil production activities of ExxonMobil (Esso) in Guyana’s offshore waters. As such, we became plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency of Guyana & Esso. This matter was heard by the Hon. Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire on 12th May 2022. At the conclusion of the hearing, Her Honour indicated that she would deliver her decision in July 2022. However, we are now in a new year and still awaiting the ruling, six months later than promised. Several letters inquiring about this judicial delay were sent from our attorney to the Registrar of the Supreme Court but to no avail. We are now ventilating this issue in the public domain in hopes of obtaining a speedy resolution to this matter.
In functional democracies, legal action is the right of concerned citizens, and key to increasing accountability of corporate and governmental entities. We appreciate being able to participate in this process and we celebrate the various judicial victories that some of our fellow Guyanese obtained in 2022, helping to ensure a safe and healthy environment – as enshrined in the Guyanese Constitution – for us all.
We hereby appeal to Hon. Chief Justice George-Wiltshire to issue her decision in our case as soon as possible.
Respectfully,
Sinikka Henry
Sherlina Nageer
Andriska Thorington
