Janette Bulkan
Which of the 24 Santiago Principles is matched by which numbered Article in the Natural Resource Fund Act 2021?
Jay Mobeen asserts that ‘babbling Glen Lall and others who agitated against the NRF … were disingenuous. For weeks they peddled misinformation to a nation, woefully ignorant of the bill. This couldn’t have been more glaring than the massive sign held up outside the Assembly by opposition protestors. This sign demanded the inclusion of the…
Oil exploration and production offshore Guyana: The Impact of Extractivism – Ecocide, Climate Crisis and Human Rights Abuses in the Caribbean
https://www.oggn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Janette-Bulkan-Impact-Extractivism-Webinar-20211130.mp4 The above presentation was part of the Freedom Imaginaries webinar please see here: https://freedomimaginaries.org/event/beyond-extractivism-webinar2/ .
Cabinet’s hydro project ‘no objection’ may be ill-advised
A reader might be misled by the Government’s current enthusiasm to start construction of this small dam (by global standards) in the remote Kuribrong River; SN 01 November ‘Cabinet gives China Railway ‘no objection’ for Amaila hydro project’. The Cabinet appears to have been persuaded by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo that the Norwegian advisers, Norconsult,…
Exxon must be made to carry full comprehensive insurance coverage
Dear Editor, I refer to your article, ‘Gov’t seeking up to US$2B insurance coverage from Exxon for Yellowtail project’, 04 November 2021. The Liza, Payara and Yellowtail oil wells are around 18,000 feet deep in the rocks and under 5-6,000 feet of Atlantic water. BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 was…
Our regulatory agencies should carry out their mandates without any interference
In response to his letter published in the Stabroek News on 1 November 2021, I invite Jonathan Yearwood to listen to what I said at the Hearing on Extractive Industries, Climate Justice and Human Rights in the Caribbean convened by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on 26 October 2021. In the recording he…
Guyana as dumpsite for petroleum wastes
Guyana is often mentioned for less than stellar reasons. There’s Jonestown (‘(s)he drank the Kool Aid’), rigged elections, the poorest country after Haiti in CARICOM and Latin America, the costliest failed infrastructural project in CARICOM (US$250M Skeldon sugar factory), and failed or captured regulatory agencies. Standouts among the latter was the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)…
The case of GOES in Coverden:
What do we value as the oil and gas juggernaut rolls on? On your way to or from Guyana’s international airport at Timehri you travel on the East Bank Demerara road. Every mile or so, a small billboard displaying the village name will flash past your eyes. 29 kms from Georgetown and 10.5 km from…
Takeaways from Environmental Assessment Board’s ‘public hearing’ on Vista Trading impact study waiver
The Environmental Assessment Board (EAB) is appointed by the Natural Resources Minister and comprises three persons. No qualifications or experience are listed in the Environmental Protection (EP) Act for EAB members. The EAB Commissioners for the 2021 calendar year are Mr Omkar Lochan (Chair, third year of service on the EAB), Ms Pradeepa Bholanauth, who…
The Ministry of Natural Resources should explain where the guaranteed minimum of 50 mmscfd gas is coming from
Could the Ministry of Natural Resources explain where the ‘guaranteed minimum of 50 mmscfd of associated gas’ (Ministry of Natural Resources public notice 25 August 2021) will come from if ExxonMobil has only 4 per cent to spare of the 75 mmscfd of gas after the FPSOs Liza Destiny and Liza Unity and Liza Prosperity are…