With hearings scheduled for 5pm today at the Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown, civil society activists are waiting to see if the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Assessment Board (EAB) will postpone the event as they have called for.
The group has asked that the public hearings on the Wales gas-to-shore project be postponed, citing among other reasons, that having the head of the Guyana Energy Agency, Dr Mahender Sharma, on the board was a conflict of interest.
And should he recuse himself from the hearings, the group charged, because of government’s recent appointment of only three persons to a board that required five, only two members would remain, resulting in there not being a quorum. As such they have called for the EAB Tribunal, as stipulated under the laws of this country, to be activated.
However, Sharma pushed back, stating that he saw no conflict and declared that he would execute his duties impartially and in the best interest of the Guyanese people and environment.
“We have called on the Environmental Assessment Board (EAB) by letter dated March 16 to postpone its Public Hearing scheduled for March 22 on the 300 MW Gas-Fired Power Plant to be located at Wales, West Demerara,” a letter signed by Vanda Razik, Elizabeth Deane-Hughes, and other appellants stated.
The Official Gazette of February 10, 2023, informed that Cabinet had approved the appointment of Sharma (chair) and members Dr Garvin Cummings, and Joslyn McKenzie to the EAB on the 5th January, 2023, but with effect from January 1, 2023. Dr Cummings is the Chief Hydrometeorological Officer, and McKenzie is the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The activists noted that the EPA had waived the requirement for an EIA for the gas-to-shore project and that some citizens had formally submitted written appeals to the EAB, and along with other stakeholders, are expected to make oral presentations at a hearing. In early January, the EPA had notified the public that the government’s planned 300 MW natural-gas power plant would not require an impact study.
