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ExxonMobil seeking new consultants to conduct environmental studies Sep 10, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Following criticisms about its use of a lone Consultant to conduct environmental studies, ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) has now issued a Request For Information (RFI) seeking consultancy services for environmental studies. The RFI was issued by the operator of the Stabroek Block on Monday. Kaieteur News understands that the company will issue a separate Request For Proposal (RFP) for Consultancy Services for Environmental, Regulatory, and Socioeconomic (ER&S) Management. According to the RFI seen by this newspaper, the qualified consultants will be tasked with developing technical proposals and conducting assessments and/or modeling for coastal and marine biodiversity and ecosystems (e.g., mangroves, coastal and marine birds, reptiles, and mammals); offshore and nearshore fisheries; physical and chemical characterization of offshore, nearshore, and terrestrial ecosystems; offshore and onshore emissions and discharges (air, acoustic and treated wastewater discharge, and unplanned events such as emergency flaring and spills) via modelling; socioeconomic settings (e.g., traffic, livelihoods, community health, fisheries etc.); social infrastructure and services; cultural heritage and / or archeological surveys; and coastal sensitivity and ecosystem services- to name a few. The assessments will be used to craft Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs); Cumulative Impact Assessments; Environmental and/or Social Management Plans; Stakeholder Engagement Plans; and Environmental Monitoring Plans. Exxon informed that the services are intended to support its activities including but not limited to offshore oil and gas production operations and support activities (e.g., Floating Production Storage and Offloading units, support vessels and helicopters); onshore support activities (e.g., shorebases, office buildings, communication infrastructure, waste management, potential major projects, etc.); onshore infrastructure; offshore seismic acquisition; geophysical, geotechnical and environmental baseline and monitoring surveys; and drilling operations (including rig import, in-water activities, exploration, appraisal, and development wells). To date, Exxon has predominantly utilized the services of Environmental Resources Management (ERM), a London based Consultancy group. That firm was accused of conducting “cut and paste” EIAs for Exxon’s oil projects. Since Exxon discovered oil in 2015 off the shores of Guyana, it has consistently hired that company to conduct its EIAs. In fact, ERM has completed five of the six sanctioned oil projects. ERM was also used to conduct an EIA for the oil company’s Gas-to-Energy (GTE) pipeline project. Exxon had contracted Texas-based Acorn International for one of its EIAs. The decision to select another Consultant was forced after Exxon was pressured by environmentalists, who questioned the independence of ERM. In December 2021, a group of Environmentalists wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting that it disclose the list of other qualified consultants, from which the Environmental Resources Management was selected to conduct EIAs. In the document seen by this publication, the experts Simone Mangal-Joly, Alfred Buhlai, Vanda Radzik, Janette Bulkan, Denuta Radzik, Jerry Jailall, Alissa Trotz and Maya Trotz questioned the independence of ERM since records show that the ExxonMobil subsidiary has only ever selected the ERM to conduct all its Environmental Impact Assessments and management plans. Related Similar Articles

Guyana is a Last-Minute Nation Sep 10, 2024 Dem Boys Seh, Features / Columnists Dem boys seh… Kaieteur News – Cricket coming soon to Guyana, and everybody start fuh wonder if dem gon finally fix de road around de stadium or if we gon still be stuck in traffic like a bad batsman trapped LBW. Yuh know Guyana – we love cricket more than anything, but we also love a last-minute hustle. Just like how we clean fuh Christmas de night before, or rush fuh get de bride dress just in time fuh walk down de aisle, same thing wid de roads. Dem boys seh, we does barely finish on time. Yuh could bet yuh last dollar dem big trucks gon be hurrying down de East Bank Road like dem bouncers bowled in de stadium. Trucks gon swerve left, right, center, lick up de cones, and dodge people like dem dodging overs. Roadworkers gon be scrambling like a tailender trying fuh survive de last ball. Everybody working late, and all of a sudden, machinery that ain’t move in months start fuh wake up. Engines gon be roaring louder than de fans inside de stadium. But this is Guyana! We specialize in last-minute miracles. People done know we only put on de finishing touches when de guests reach. Yuh ever see Christmas lights go up Christmas Eve? Or yuh ever hear de story bout de man who only start looking fuh he suit de morning of he wedding? Well, that’s Guyana fuh yuh. Dem boys seh de same thing happening here. De roads might not be smooth, but by hook or by crook, we gon somehow pull it off just in time fuh the CPL crowd. De paint might still wet, but don’t worry, yuh gon get there. So brace yuhself fuh de last-minute rush and hope yuh don’t end up in a traffic jam longer than a Test match. Just remember, we always leave it to de last minute, but we barely finish on time! Talk half. Leff half Related Similar Articles

Democracy and autocracy: the reality  Sep 10, 2024 Editorial Editorial… Kaieteur News – I keep it simple in this chat about democracy versus autocracy in Guyana.  I agree and disagree with the erudite Dr. Bertrand Ramcharran.  I mostly disagree with those who disagree with him. First, some poor man’s definitions would help.  Democracy is government by those with the greater numbers, a system where high ideals once resonated.  Autocracy is where those in charge (usually one) deliberately subvert the ideals of democracy for scurrilous personal objectives.  Democracy, at its best, is about freedoms, those that the powerful and perverse find overwhelming and obnoxious.  Autocracy is where the leadership becomes so twisted, feels so threatened that there are remorseless moves to stamp out the objectionable, those considered parasites. Democracy starts and stops in Guyana with elections.  And even that process has had its tangles, thanks to the PNC.  In its defense, the PNC said look at the PPP.  That’s the story; it’s endless.  After elections, and before a swarm of flies in Guyana can visit an exposed carcass, democracy’s nobilities find themselves ostracized, rendered into virtual lepers.  In a democracy, conscientious objectors are a protected species. A rare breed of the fearless that gets things moving, not necessarily done.  In Guyana under the PPP, democracy died at State House the day before the last swearing-in ceremony.  In the Guyana of PPP democracy, conscientious objectors are a combination of barbarian, heathen, terrorist, and untimely reminders that the PPP family has many secrets, its democracy riddled with many holes.  Which committed bully, bluffer, or braggart would take kindly to such revelations?  Which prudent leader with self-control to match would think twice prior to letting his dogs of war out?  It is raw power expressed.  State House loves it (mess at own risk); Freedom House pretends not to be in bed with that (wee doan mix wid dem kine ah peeple), but they are all on the PPP Government’s payroll. Some are inside State media.  In a democracy, the people who own State media have some voice in their assets.  In the Guyana version of autocracy disguised as democracy, the State apparatus is deployed to whip the stubborn and stupid into shape. Silence is the best medicine.  The big fellas swear that they welcome constructive criticism.  I detect a lack of proper schooling: truth.  It is grafting arrogance with vinegar and toxins, then fusing the result with trickiness.  Somebody should inform the dealers in the PPP of the true meaning of honest criticism, the range that constructive criticism covers, and the places it could soar, with few limits.  In the PPP’s democracy, intimidation is education. Smearing makes intentions clear.  To libel is the drivel on which it feeds and grows fat.  Is that democracy?  It is not even autocracy; it is criminality at its crudest, slipperiest. In a democracy, citizens have confidence in the independence of the police.  In an autocracy, the people shiver when they hear police. Who is responsible?  Is that state of mind justified?  Whose interests are served?  Whose security is breached?  In a democracy, the independent media is hailed as a bulwark, a tolerated inconvenience. Like a hovering, intrusive, overbearing in-law.  But in an autocracy, the very presence of the media (whether independent or not) is seen as an escaped prisoner with a bad record and worse attitude. Corner quickly and lock in the narrowest cage.  When a government has no dreadful secrets to hide, there is no media dread.  The media is a friend, partner, a fellow striver towards common national objectives. When there are vulgar government secrets lying nakedly about, as if some private nudist colony, then the independent media is the worst national nightmare. Hence, the upraised mailed fist of government.  Hence, the face to the independent media’s face in the most unwanted nose-to-nose romance.  Democracy is about benign government warmth.  Autocracy is about malevolent leadership wrath.  Even the judiciary is under siege.  There are those who try to sway it and shift it.  When that fails, they spit upon it. Some may postulate it’s the power dynamic in action.  I call it political Darwinism that resorts to cannibalism.  The skeptical can confirm by spending some quality time observing the presidency, the chief secretary.  The Prime Minister’s office is used for clandestine warfare against those identified as enemies of the party.  The Attorney General’s office is there to run interference with the specious and vacuous.  It is well represented. In this democracy-autocracy challenge, I file this writ.  Name one sensitive public agency not under the heel of the political commissars.  They make their own civil service standards.  Do as the party leaders wish and say, and to hell with the rules.  If that is democracy, then I am the Duke of Georgetown.  Put a hooligan in a bejeweled uniform complete with a scarlet sash, and he or she is still an unreformed thug. Last, for the best evidence of autocracy in motion, study Guyanese.  Save for a daring few, they have no insights, no inspirations, no contrarian ideas, no dissenting impulses.  Fear is their first cousin, their first flight towards the first refuge found.  Like ah said, it’s neither scientific nor academic. Only what is realistic in the autocratic state that is PPP Guyana. When the checks and balances are demolished, then things get out of whack, out of control, and out of the ordinary. By any measure, that is autocracy.  Welcome to Guyana.  It’s in a bad place. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.) Related Similar Articles

$566M to complete phase two of Regional Food Hub Sep 10, 2024 News Kaieteur News – The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office has cleared a $566,486,000 contract to complete phase two of the Regional Food Hub. As reported previously, the construction of the Regional Food Hub is being undertaken by Ministry of Agriculture through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA). According to information provided on its website, NPTAB has awarded the $566 million contract to Navin & Sons Construction and this is for the construction of foundation and external works for the Food Hub which will be located along the Linden – Soesdyke Highway. During a presentation in a meeting with the President of the Islamic Development Bank Dr. Mohammed Sulaiman last year, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha informed that the land for the facility has already been identified on the Soesdyke /Linden Highway and the complex will cost some US$14M. Already Phase One of the project which began last year cost some $187 million. Mustapha was also quoted in a Department of Public Information article in September last year saying: “We want this Guyana here to be the food hub. The primary production hub of the Caribbean so that we could supply the Caribbean. What we have, our colleagues in the Caribbean don’t have. We have arable flat land and abundant fresh water. Now with the investment coming on board, we can modernise the infrastructure, and start ramping up of the productions.” Minister Mustapha had underscored that Guyana is looking to play a lead role in reducing the Caribbean’s food import bill by 2025. He noted that Guyana will work with the State of Roraima in Brazil to form a partnership in the development of the Hub. It was reported in the media also that the Food Hub will facilitate the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products, mainly obtained from the state of Roraima in Brazil. This publication understands that when completed the hub will provide a number of services which include cleaning, sorting, packaging, repackaging, labelling, and storing products in temperature-controlled units to ensure quality and safety. Related Similar Articles

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Two arrested after break in at ‘Rude Boy’ supermarket Sep 10, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Two men were arrested on Monday and two others on the run after they allegedly broke into the ‘Rube Boy’ Supermarket at Fourth Bridge, Diamond, East Bank Demerara. Police in a press release said that when ranks arrived at the supermarket they encountered four armed men inside the building and they subsequently discharged several rounds in their direction. The ranks returned fire but three of them escaped. One of the suspects identified as 25-year-old Junior Persaud of Ruimveldt Georgetown was taken into custody. He was interrogated and acting on the information he provided the police ventured to the residence of another suspect who was identified as Dequann Small of Diamond East Bank Demerara who was then arrested at his home. A subsequent search of the premises where Small was arrested revealed ‘breaking devices’, a makeshift firearm, several car rims, and a small generator all suspected to have been stolen from ‘Rude Boy’ Supermarket. Investigations are ongoing as the two other suspects remain on the run. Related Similar Articles

Govt. must do more to address inequity of education in hinterland communities – AFC Leader Sep 10, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Nigel Hughes on Friday called on the Government of Guyana to implement measures that will ensure that there is equity in the delivery of education across the country. The Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader, Nigel Hughes At the party’s weekly press conference, Hughes said that the disparity in the delivery of education between the coast and the hinterland seems to be widening and the Ministry of Education must do more to remedy that. Hughes believes that there should be a closure of the gap, then the country’s pass rates at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations would be significantly boosted. “Going back to 2022, where Guyana topped the Caribbean with some students getting twenty-four A’s and the hinterland and the riverine community having none, we believe that this disparity continues and the disparity discloses, I dare say apartheid in education in which the Indigenous communities clearly are losing, they are (at) the wrong end of that stick,” Hughes, who is also an Attorney said. He believes that “there needs to be an immediate intervention in relation to the quality of education that is given to Indigenous communities.” The AFC leader told reporters that given the “empirical evidence” he believes that children on the coast and in the hinterland must be taught the same material and have access to the same learning opportunities. “That means we have to have qualified teachers there (in Indigenous Communities). We have to make sure that the members of that community… the teachers who are members of that community also get the best quality education that will allow them to return to their community to teach.” Hughes commended the Government for its “good initiative” to arrest the country’s declining mathematics pass rates by ramping up the teaching periods allotted across primary and secondary schools. Notwithstanding, he said more needs to be done to address the gaps that exist. “So Mr. President (President Irfaan Ali) while you’re dealing with Maths, I would say equally important is deal with the discrimination in relation to the quality of education received by the Indigenous community,” Hughes concluded.     Related Similar Articles