An Opposition Parliamentarian is calling for the institution of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) in wake of a devastating incident earlier this month that crippled the sole transport link connecting the western and eastern banks of the Demerara River.
The Demerara Harbour Bridge was rendered inoperable for over 60 hours after it was rammed by a Panamanian fuel tanker on Saturday, October 8. The link suffered catastrophic structural damage to four spans, resulting in the expenditure of over GYD$1B.
Opposition Member of Parliament, Amanza Walton-Desir, in a recent statement, bemoaned the inconvenience that Guyanese suffered after the link was struck for the second time in less than a month.
She noted that the Demerara River is Guyana’s main hub for the import and export trade and the burgeoning oil and gas sector has placed considerable demand on the already inadequate maritime infrastructure.
She added that while forecasts vary, it is estimated that Guyana could ramp up oil production to 1.2 million barrels a day by 2025. To add to this, the present government has embarked upon an exercise to dredge the Demerara to facilitate larger vessels calling at Port Georgetown. The combined result will be exponential growth in marine traffic in the Demerara over the next few years.
Yet with all this impending and inevitable, the current administration is yet to develop a comprehensive plan that will address the myriad of issues that will arise from the various interests competing for use of the maritime space, the MP noted.
“During my presentation on the 2020 Budget in the National Assembly, I conveyed to the Minister of Public Works the urgent importance of a national master plan to guide the development of our marine space, especially in light of the emerging oil and gas sector. The urgency of this matter is now more apparent than ever.”
She added that the importance of MSP for Guyana cannot be overstated. MSP is defined by UNESCO as a public process of analysing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives that are typically specified through the political process.
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission cautions that MSP is not an end in itself, but a practical way to create and establish a more rational use of marine space and the interactions among its uses, to balance demands for development with the need to protect the environment, and to deliver social and economic outcomes in an open and planned way.
“A Marine Spatial Plan would provide Guyana with a high-level document that outlines the use and conditions for the use of the sea, including our Exclusive Economic Zone, territorial sea, and internal waters,” she noted.
MSPs generally seek to strike a balance between the needs of society, the economy, and the environment, while promoting the sustainable use of marine resources by allowing, or prohibiting as the case may be, particular activities in the sea and along the coast.
Walton-Desir was keen to note that the plan must set out the long-term vision for the sustainable use and development of the sector as well as the national strategic priorities, which will, in turn, inform the much-needed capacity building and institutional strengthening.
She added that the APNU+AFC Administration recognized the importance of
planning for the development of the sector and as an initial step in this direction, Guyana became the first country in the Commonwealth to sign up for the development of a Maritime Economy Plan.
Through the support of the Commonwealth Marine Economics Programme and the British Government, national stakeholder consultations were held with international subject matter experts, and an initial draft plan was prepared. The fate of that draft document is unclear and there has been no public indication by the present administration on whether it will be updated and finalized, the politician noted.
“It is my fervent hope that it will be as it can serve as a good base document for the development of further, more detailed plans,” Walton-Desir expressed.
