As negotiations continue with some land owners in the pathway of the Wales Gas to Shore project, the majority have accepted proposals put to them with some choosing relocation instead of monies, Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC says.
“The owners were duly consulted, and negotiated consensual arrangements were arrived at with most of them, and the agreements are now being (drawn up) and discharged in accordance with the terms and conditions agreed upon. Some persons have accepted monetary compensation, while others have opted to accept land at alternative locations of comparative value,” Nandlall told Stabroek News yesterday when contacted for an update.
This newspaper reported on Saturday that government on Wednesday gazetted a series of orders for the acquisition of lands for the gas pipeline which will run along the West Demerara, with most falling in the Canal Number 1 area.
The orders describe the parcels of lands that are to be acquired and the areas include Java, Vreed-en-Hoop, North Half Klien Pouderoyen, Alliance, Resource and Bordeaux, Canal Number 1.
Yesterday, the Attorney General said that the process of acquiring the privately owned lands, “is proceeding smoothly and (largely), in the manner contemplated.”
But he noted that there are still some persons with whom agreements have not yet been reached and accelerated efforts will be activated to ensure there is an amicable resolution.
“There are, however, a few persons with whom agreements have not yet been finalized. Efforts will continue to be made, to bring these transactions to the consensual end,” he stressed.
But if those residents are still adamant that they will not accept the proposals made, the Attorney General said that government will be left with no other choice but to utilize its legal powers in activating the Acquisition of Lands for Public Purposes Act.
“However, if all efforts are futile, then the state will have to activate its powers under the Acquisition of Lands for Public Purposes Act. This obviously is a measure of last resort and it is hoped that it can be avoided. Some of the lands for which agreements have been reached, are already the subject of vesting orders which are vesting those lands in the name of the government and the process will continue until all of the required lands are acquired,” he said.
Nandlall is optimistic that there will be a consensual resolution. “It is hoped that this process will conclude very shortly so that the physical work for the gas to shore project can begin on the land” he said.
In September of last year, during one of the meetings with residents in the areas, government informed that it is willing to pay them between $1 million and $4 million per acre.
The pipeline is expected to land at Crane/Nouvelle Flanders, West Coast Demerara and run to Wales on the West Bank of Demerara, where a natural gas liquids (NGL) processing plant and power plant are to be constructed.
The project involves capturing associated gas produced from crude oil production operations on the Liza Phase 1 (Destiny) and Liza Phase 2 (Unity) Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessels.
Some 150 acres of land at Wales have been allocated for the project, which is expected to cut power costs by 50 per cent.
It will be executed in three phases – construction, operation and decommissioning. It entails three aspects as well – an offshore pipeline which is approximately 220 kilometres of a subsea pipeline extending from new subsea tie-ins at the Destiny and Unity FPSOs in the Stabroek Block to the proposed shore landing, located approximately 3.5 kilometres west of the mouth of the Demerara River; an onshore pipeline that is a continuation of the offshore line and extends about 25 kilometres from the landing site to the NGL plant; and the NGL plant and associated infrastructure that will be located about 23 kilometres upstream from the mouth of the Demerara River on the west bank.
Valuation
During the September meeting last year, the Attorney General had highlighted the timeframe for the project, noting that they were hoping to have the acquisition of the necessary lands completed by the end of October 2022.
Nandlall told the residents that a total of 73.3 acres of land would have to be acquired and that the lands would be strips of no more than 24 metres wide. He added that the valuation of the land was done by the government valuation officer.
“…we are guided by what he has informed us. For the purpose of valuation, Guyana is divided and valued in accordance with certain factors – urban centres, rural areas, distance from road, distance from sea etc. So we have some broad factors here that guide and inform how they have arrived at this position.
“Based on the plotted route, we are considering the acquisition of 73.3 acres of land – the entire pathway of the pipeline and we have a value attached. Of course, the value is going to vary…the value depends on the location, type of land and size of land,” he related.
Explaining the valuation process and prices, Project Lead Winston Brassington had pointed out that the determination of the amount of lands to be acquired was made by ExxonMobil. He added that they are acquiring enough land for all of the construction equipment needed to lay the pipeline.
“That 23 metres is the total width of where the pipeline would be and the area of construction of the pipeline. In addition to that there are some areas where you would need a wider area because they are doing something called HDD drilling – horizontal directional drilling – so they are actually going deep underneath the ground where we have road and seawalls and come back up,” he said.
Brassington said that the lands were surveyed and plotted by the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission after which they were valued. He said that the lands closer to the ocean are more valuable while backlands would fetch a lesser price.
Brassington, who told the residents that the process started in 2021, further explained that individual notices were sent to each of the affected persons and that almost all of the lands are unoccupied.
“The valuation of the lands and generally the land value there is between $1 million an acre and $4 million an acre and that is basically the value we analyzed,” Brassington said.
Both Nandlall and Brassington had told the residents that they were working with a “tight” timeframe, noting that the investors were hoping that they could commence the project by the end of October 2022.
