Fishermen to get compensation as V/Hoop shore base dredging continues

Fisherfolk affected by the first phase of the Vreed-en-Hoop Shore Base on the West of Coast Demerara, which entails the dredging of the Demerara River, are to be compensated.
Residents and the fishermen have been assured that the development of this project will not affect their livelihood when they met with developers on Saturday.
Compensation will be given to the affected fishermen, including persons not registered with the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.
This follows reports of fishermen raising complaints about the impact of the dredging on their daily activities. The Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) had also disclosed at that time that it was doing daily monitoring of the dredging by NRG Holding Inc.
During a public meeting on Saturday at the Regional Education Office in Region Three, one of the businessmen of the consortium, Andron Alphonso, related that “We are also willing to speak with persons who are not registered with [Fisheries Department] but operating in that same area.”
Further, he told residents that “We are not here to disrupt but to develop and there will be challenges but we just want to let everyone know we are dedicated to overcoming those challenges and working with the affected persons.”
The first phase of the US$300 million project is the deepening, widening, and dredging of the access channel, as well as land reclamation. It also includes an offshore terminal, dry dock facility, and fabrication yard spanning 65 hectares.
As the dredging activity continues in the coming weeks, developers also explained to residents that job opportunities will open up with the roll-out of this massive project. They have committed to working with persons from the community to address other grievances and have established multiple avenues to file complaints.
The shore base project is being carried out by NRG Holdings by businessmen; Nicholas Boyer of National Hardware Guyana Limited, Azruddin Mohamed and Nazar “Shell” Mohamed, and Andron Alphonso of ZRN Investments Incorporated.
In April, ExxonMobil Guyana and the Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase Incorporated (VEHSI) signed a 20-year agreement for shore base services to be provided at the port of Vreed-en-Hoop facility to support the US oil giant’s operations offshore Guyana.
VEHSI, which is undertaking Guyana’s first multi-purpose port facility, is a joint venture between a fully-owned Guyanese consortium – NRG Holdings Incorporated, and Jan De Nul Group, a Belgium-based company that specialises in offshore, marine, civil, environment, and project development.
NRG holds a majority stake of 85 per cent in VESHI, while the remaining 15 per cent is owned by Jan De Nul – the company that will construct the facility. The multi-million port of Vreed-en-Hoop, which will be located at the Best, WCD foreshore, will feature an offshore terminal; fabrication, umbilical and spooling yards; a dry dock facility; a wharf and berths, and administrative buildings, among other facilities.
This project commenced after the sod was turned in June of this year. That same month, the area for the construction of the facility was being surveyed by the Jan De Nul Group.