Four years into oil discovery and… Guyana’s legal infrastructure not ready for oil sector- Nandalall

Jun 20, 2019 News

Guyana is preparing for first oil to be brought up come the first quarter of 2020. However the country has several gaps in various departments.

Anil Nandlall

It is still unclear whether it has the capacity to deal with the Oil and Gas Industry.
This industry brings with it contracts and complex agreements, which if not properly analyzed and understood, could be chaotic. To facilitate this, laws would obviously need to be updated and acts and policies put in place to deal with whatever hiccups the country may face.
Since the discovery of oil offshore Guyana, four years have passed. It seems that Guyana is nowhere near having these cracks and crevices fixed and it is unclear if it can be done in the few months left.
Former Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Anil Nandlall said, “The Coalition Government has not passed a single piece of legislation of worth to prepare the country’s legal infrastructure for the oil and gas sector.
“This is a new, complex and multi-billion-dollar sector of the magnitude never seen before in Guyana. Yet, there is absolutely no legal framework in place, or likely to be in place in the near future to regulate the sector”.
He went on to say that he isn’t speaking about ancillary legislation, but the very basic framework, which is not in place as there is no authority in place, comprising suitably qualified and technically sound persons to manage, or administer the affairs of the sector.
Also, there is no legislation installing monitoring mechanisms to ensure the sector’s operations meet with international standards and guidelines, neither is there any legislative measure in place protecting the local and domestic sectors and indeed, local labour from being ostracized, or dominated, or exploited by powerful foreign conglomerates, who will preponderate this sector.
Nandlall said, “There are also no laws protecting the environment from significant hazards, which inhere to this sector. Neither are there laws requiring insurance and indemnification, in relation to loss and damage, which may arise, indirectly or directly, from the sector.
“In short, we are absolutely legally unprepared from the sector.”
With regards to progress that the current Attorney General has made in preparing the country’s legal system for the sector, in Nandlall’s opinion he has demonstrated a peculiarly high level of incompetence in treating the most elementary legal matters.
Any confidence placed in him to produce the required menu of legal measures and legislative requisites for this sector would be absolutely misplaced, He added.
“It is simply beyond his competence and indeed, most lawyers’ competence in the country to do so.”
The oil companies that are expected to operate in this sector have decades of international legal experience operating in various parts of the world\, Nandlall said.
Over the years, the experience which they would have accumulated is immeasurable.
“They have, advising them, a constellation of lawyers, highly specialized in various aspects of the sector. Guyana simply does not have that caliber of skills available locally and therefore, will have to consider importing appropriately qualified persons to protect their interests.
“At the same time they are employing those the country has, more importantly immediately invest in training a local group of lawyers.”
When this major sector and its spinoffs start to function at optimal capacities, definitely the legal system will have to be augmented and expanded to meet the demands, which will flow therefrom.
Guyana is completely unprepared [legally] for the gigantic impact that will be generated from this sector, Nandlall said.

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