The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Oil exploration opponents yesterday submitted their third Freedom of Information Act request in a bid to obtain greater transparency over the Government’s dealings with the ex-Bahamas Petroleum Company.

Representatives from the Our Islands, Our Future coalition, in a letter to Carl Bethel QC, the attorney general, and ex-Supreme Court justice Keith Thompson, the Bahamas’ first freedom of information commissioner, again sought “a full public accounting” of licence and other fees paid by the now-Challenger Energy Group as well as any reports on the drilling of its Perseverance One exploratory well.

Noting that Romauld Ferreira, minister of the environment, had publicly said the Government will not consider Challenger’s application for a three-year renewal of its licences until some $1.9m in allegedly outstanding fees are paid, the group wrote: “This is our third request for information related to plans, licences, government approvals, activities and reports surrounding Challenger’s long-standing relationship with the Government of The Bahamas and its operations in Bahamian waters during 2020.

“We additionally seek a full public accounting of fees that have been paid by Challenger to-date, and those that are still outstanding to the Government of The Bahamas..... With this letter we reiterate our request for copies of all licence agreements, reports, information, logs, as well as BPC’s full certificate(s) of insurance.

“We also reiterate our prior request for information on the ‘minimum requirements’ of insurance that were required of Challenger Energy Group during this drilling operation,” Our Islands, Our Future added. “Please also transmit all drilling reports, communications, compliance and safety observations, drilling results data and analysis, and any information in government possession regarding potential or actual environmental impacts of the activities associated with Challenger’s Perseverance One well.”

Calling for “a full and detailed public accounting of all fees paid by Challenger to the Government of The Bahamas over the last two decades”, Our Islands, Our Future added: “It is of grave public concern that Challenger has a history of non-payment.....

“Finally, we seek overarching details of the renewal process Challenger or any other entity will be subjected to should they pay their back-owed Government fees. Specifically, has the Government provided Challenger a deadline for payment of the outstanding fees?”

After failing to obtain a response to the first two Freedom of Information Act requests, the first of which was made six months ago, Rashema Ingraham, executive director of Waterkeepers Bahamas, said in a statement: “We have raised very important points and asked specific questions related to the BPC licence agreements, drilling and monitoring reports and licence fees owing to the Bahamas Government.

“All of these are matters of public interest that should be addressed. The Information Commissioner now has the task of being completely transparent and timely in his response to the Bahamian people.”

“The public is deeply concerned about the insurance coverage that was reported in place for the drilling of the Perseverance One well off the west coast of Andros because of the threat to our tourism industry and the potential impacts to fishing,” added Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF) executive director.

“It is imperative that the public have access to the financial realities of oil drilling in our waters.”