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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
 The Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) permits to drill for oil in the Bahamas will expire on April 21st, 2012. There has been no word by the government on whether new permits have been issued or are going to be issued.
According to BPC’s website, “the Governor General shall renew the licenses for another three years, provided the Company commits to drill an exploration well and spuds the well before the end of the first renewal year, i.e., by April 26, 2013.”
In a letter dated February 2011, BPC asserts that it has, “Fulfilled the commitments of the current licenses and that it intends to continue the exploration program into the next extension (through 2015). The intention is to spud the first well in 2012 and no later than April 26, 2013.
This is indisputable evidence of the government’s intentions to allow BPC to drill for oil in the Bahamas and proves what Ben Albury, the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) candidate for Montagu and the DNA party has been saying for months now.
Additionally, some of BPC’s legal teams consist of prominent members of the PLP. This has caused much concern in the DNA and the Party sees this as a conflict of interest. Jerome Gomez, the Killarney candidate is the resident manager at BPC. Phillip “Brave” Davis, senior law partner at Davis & Co provides legal advice to BPC. Gomez and Davis are the PLP candidates for Killarney, and San Salvador, Cat Island and Rum Cay, respectively.
BPC might be a Bahamian registered company, but we know that foreigners to date have reaped all the rewards from the sale of this company’s shares on the London stock exchange.
DNA leader Branville McCartney said, “All I want is the Prime Minister to tell the Bahamian people the truth about oil exploration in the Bahamas. Experts have been telling us that the oil deposits in the Bahamas are worth more than $1 trillion. This isn’t BTC. This is 1000 times bigger than BTC. The prime minister continues to play with the future of the Bahamian people. His submission in the Nassau Guardian today that there will be no oil drilling under the FNM is unsubstantiated and is only a smoke screen to deter the DNA from pursuing the truth.”
The DNA believes that the proceeds of this industry will transform the Bahamas into a country rich with growth potential.
Mr. McCartney further said, “The DNA believes in empowering Bahamians. Under a DNA government all Bahamians will thrive. We will not negotiate secret deals where only a few Bahamians profit. We will not allow foreign companies to reap hundreds of millions dollars in profits and leave the scraps for Bahamians.”
Our pledge is to continue to shed light on oil drilling in the Bahamas. The FNM and the PLP have not been forthcoming with information. We should be having monthly town meetings and the government should have launched its own website that hosts information on the proposed drilling of oil in our waters. We should also be training Bahamians in jobs relating to the oil industry so that when it comes on stream, our people would have already acquired the expertise.
Mr. McCartney concluded that “supporting the FNM or the PLP is more of the same. The DNA supports empowerment and progress.”
© Copyright 2012 by thebahamasweekly.com
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