Members of Red Thread in collaboration with grassroots women yesterday afternoon staged a protest in front of the Office of the President for the assurance that in an event of an oil spill, ExxonMobil will cover the full cost.
The group of about nineteen protested for better management of the oil sector, and called for a signed guarantee by Exxon that after an oil spill, it will cover the cost and not have taxpayers foot the bill. They also emphasised that the people need assurances that they will gain more from the project and to ensure that costs are tailored to the respective projects, and not transferred to another.
The civil society group expressed the determination to continue with the protest until the president listens to them. They plan to hold it on the first Wednesday of every month for one hour (12:00 -13:00)
Gregory Allen, a member of Red Thread, told Stabroek News that his objective is to have better management in the oil sector, have ring fencing so the cost of one project does not add on to the other, so that every project should pay for itself, and for insurance in the event of an oil spill.
He said that this will ensure that the Guyanese people will not suffer while the oil company walks free. He contended that the government should not pursue other projects unless measures are in place to manage the sector properly. “We want to be able to have full insurance coverage in an event of an oil spill so taxpayers would not have to suffer the cost of the aftermath of the oil spill.”
Karen de Souza, another Red Thread member, said that the protest is calling for full liability coverage which means they need a guarantee from the parent company (ExxonMobil) that in the event of a disaster, it will guarantee the people that the cost of cleaning up after an oil spill would be covered.
She lamented that the insurance is not going to cover it, although ExxonMobil has stated that it would honour those obligations, in other words, they are asking the people to trust them. Regardless, she said, they would like ExxonMobil to sign a guarantee that they will do it. As such, de Souza stressed that they want some signatures for the assurance that ExxonMobil would not leave the people to cover the cost in case of an oil spill.
DeSouza added that the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and the government must insist on this guarantee in the interest of the Guyanese people. “It is very nice right now, the money is flowing, they bring up the oil and they haven’t had any major disaster as yet.” However, she said that she knows of an instance where in Guyana, a barrel of oil was spilled and ExxonMobil did confess to it. Also, the country had excessive flaring of gas for a period and this is why they can’t afford to wait until something big happens.
She opined that the President and Vice President of Guyana should make that determination because the EPA seems not to be convinced, so it’s left to the policymakers. She is therefore calling on them to give some thought to this matter.
Maeve Ramsay explained that she was present yesterday for the president to listen so that ExxonMobil can provide full liability coverage in case of an oil spill.
Ramsay contended that they want the president “to listen to what we want and for him to hold ExxonMobil accountable to follow Guyana’s laws.” She said that if there is an oil spill in Guyana and ExxonMobil doesn’t provide full liability coverage, then “we will have to pay for it.” She stressed that it would be taxpayers’ money that will be used and it would be a burden for their children since they are the ones who will have to eventually pay for the oil spill cleanup through taxes.
She expressed the hope that the president listens, and does what he is obligated to do for Guyanese, which is to make sure ExxonMobil obtains full liability coverage for an oil spill. (Subhana Shiwmangal)
