Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall on Tuesday noted that in the current Parliament, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government has passed a total of 105 pieces of legislation. This, he said, is a significant number when compared to the APNU+AFC’s tenure in office.
Nandlall explained that the government has passed several laws to improve the natural resources sector and manage Guyana’s oil wealth including the Local Content Act, the Natural Resources Fund Act and the Petroleum Activities Act along with completing a model Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the sector.
Only recently, the government also passed the Oil Pollution Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Responsibility Bill 2025.
“So far in this Parliament, with COVID and all other challenges, we have passed 105 pieces of legislation in the 12th Parliament and we are not yet finished…which Bill did the APNU+AFC passed? They passed a Petroleum Bill after they were defeated by a No-Confidence motion,” he contended during his weekly “Issues in the News” programme.
Each of the legislation passed to govern the natural resources sector, he said, are “landmark in their own right.”
“They are all technical complex pieces of legislation and we consulted widely on each of them nationally and internationally,” Nandlall further pointed out.
In contributions to the debate on the Oil Pollution Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Responsibility Bill 2025 last Friday, APNU+AFC MP Shurwayne Holder argued the bill prohibits the transfer of liability to parent companies.
However, Nandlall on Tuesday sought to explain that the liability instead runs all the way to the parent company. He noted that financial responsibility is dealt with in four sections of the Act including mandating the companies, whether working onshore or offshore, to provide insurance and assurance to cover the risks involved in their operations.
“So this whole idea that this bill is some mechanism that shields any grouping from liability… is deceptive,” he highlighted.
“The licensees wanted a cap on liability, we said no liability runs with the damage or the damages caused,” he added.
Holder had also argued that the Bill allows offshore operator, ExxonMobil Guyana to escape liability by declaring bankruptcy, thereby shielding the parent company from any financial fallout in the event of a major disaster.
However, the AG explained that the law holds responsible any person operating a vessel, facility, onshore or offshore, and even after shutting down, for an oil spill.
“How can you get wider than this?” he questioned.
This, he said, is the “widest possible meaning” given to responsible party.
Clause 17 of the Act states that the responsible party is liable for all damages caused by an oil spill incident, removal of spill and removal cost, restoration of the environment as far as practicable “and for any cost arriving therefrom and connected therewith.” The subsequent clauses explains that this includes removal costs invested by any person or the state along with damage to personal property.
The AG said the legislation was drafted by experts in in the United States and complies with all international standard, treaties and laws relevant to the sector. He said different legislation were assessed in compiling the document from countries including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Norway, Ireland and others.
Input was also garnered from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, the Guyana Energy Agency, the Maritime Administration Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other public organisations.
“This Bill is deliberate and necessary” to bring our sector closer to international best practices in the event of oil pollution, Nandlall stated.
It contains 39 sections addressing key areas including the national oil spill contingency plan and what each operator in the sector is required to do, coordination of oil spill response and how the public is notified, environmental restoration, liability, financial responsibility, claims for those who suffered losses and more.
The legislation sets out a comprehensive national legal framework for oil spill prevention, preparedness, response, and compensation. It designates the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) as the national authority responsible for coordinating response efforts and mitigating the impact of any spill.
A formalised National Oil Spill Committee within the CDC will oversee the development of an Incident Command System and lead regular training and drill exercises to ensure readiness.
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