The Attorney General’s Chambers has completed the draft oil spill bill, and has submitted same to the Office of the President for review.
This was revealed on Tuesday evening by Attorney General Anil Nandlall during his programme of “Issues in the News”.
Workers from state owned Heritage Petroleum Oil and Gas Company cleaning up an oil spill that had reached Rockly Bay beach in Scarborough, southwestern Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago, Feb. 11, 2024 (VOA)
Nandlall said discussions should soon begin on possible changes to the draft legislation, officially called the Oil Pollution Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Responsibility Bill 2025.
He said Government had initially wanted to table the oil spill bill in the National Assembly by the end of 2024, but there were delays in its crafting. Among other things, it is expected that the bill would mandate compensation to individuals and entities for economic and other losses incurred as a consequence of any oil spill.
In December 2024, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had said persons could expect the bill to be laid in the National Assembly early this year. In September 2024, Jagdeo had dropped some crucial insight on the much-anticipated oil spill legislation. For instance, it is expected that the bill would mandate compensation to individuals and entities for economic and other losses incurred as a consequence of any oil spill.
Jagdeo had spoken on Government’s plan to legislate better oil spill coverage, as Guyana had observed difficulties faced by the Trinidad and Tobago Government in dealing with the catastrophic oil spill that had ensued after a mystery vessel had run aground and released approximately 50,000 barrels of oil in 2024.
That oil spill in Tobago had left the island’s beach severely damaged, and the Government had declared the situation a national emergency and estimated that the damage could reach as much as US$30 million.
