National Oil Spill Committee launches today

Jan 26, 2021 News

Prime Minister, Brigadier Mark Phillips (centre); Director General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig (right); and Project Manager, Civil Defence Commission, Ms. Anita Wilson; are pictured with copies of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan.

Kaieteur News – National Oil Spill Committee (NOSC) is prepared to host its first orientation today. This follows after the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), last year, presented to Government, through the Office of the Prime Minister, a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP).
Some 25 national stakeholders validated the four-year plan including the Maritime Administrative Department (MARAD), the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the CDC.
Kaieteur News also understands that the National Emergency Oil Spill Plan was crafted with inputs from the Guyana Marine Conservation Society, the Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, the Shipping Association of Guyana, ExxonMobil, Tullow, GuyOil, Repsol, Shell, GAICO Construction and other stakeholders.
Colonel Kester Craig, the Director General of the CDC, had noted that with Guyana’s emerging oil and gas sector, the need was highlighted for an oil spill response mechanism that will protect Guyana’s land and sea resources, should the need arise.
According to the CDC, the orientation, which will see an opening presentation from Prime Minister, Mark Phillips, will formally launch the NOSCP and give the NOSC credence to carry out its role of preventing oil spills and management of any associated risks across Guyana.