Fishermen and Friends heads to Privy Council

PRESSURE group, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS), is heading to the Privy Council which will hear its judicial review case against the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) on Wednesday and Thursday. FFOS is appealing the decision of the Court of Appeal which refused to grant leave to the group to apply for judicial review in its public interest litigation against the decision of the EMA to permit bp to pump increased volumes of natural gas in 40 and 48 inches diameter pipelines from the sea into a 36-inch pipeline which runs on land from Mayaro to Point Fortin. 

FFOS contends that over 110, 000 persons live in close vicinity of the 36-inch pipeline in villages across the country and the increased volumes of natural gas pose a serious threat to the lives and health of the villagers and the environment. FFOS produced affidavit evidence to the court from an environmental expert Dr Ahamad Khan whose evidence stated that this increased volume of natural gas can cause the pipe to leak and/or burst. He said that if the pipe bursts or leaks, the lives of the persons would be in serious jeopardy, since most of the people in those villages live below the poverty line and cook with open fires, therefore major explosions can occur, causing loss of lives and/or serious injuries.

Justice Nolan Bereaux refused to grant leave to apply for judicial review on the ground that the application was made two months late and that bp had spent millions of dollars on the project. FFOS contends that the statutory procedures laid down by the Environmental Mangement Act was not followed by the EMA in granting the Certificate of Clearance (CEC) and as such the transmission of the increased volumes of natural gas was illegal. FFOS contends further that there was no national register established by the EMA as required by law for the public to be informed of the grant of CECs and as such it did not become aware of the grant of the CEC until two months after it was granted.

The CEC was granted on November 29, 2001. FFOS did not know until mid-March 2002 that the CEC was granted and it filed its application for judicial review on May 20, 2002. Justice Bereaux gave his judgment on August 30, 2002 and the Court of Appeal on August 14, 2003. In the dissenting judgment given by Justice Anthony Lucky, he found that the High Court did not give proper consideration to the health and lives of the members of the community who live near the pipeline and as such he granted leave to apply for judicial review. The majority decision given by Justices Rolston Nelson and Lionel Jones, was that having regard to the substantial monies bp spent on the project, leave to apply for judicial review should not be granted.

FFOS is not asking the court to stop the project. It is asking the court to grant leave to review the matter and to take steps to protect the lives and health of the people by ensuring that the project is safe. This, it contends, could be done by a reduced flow of the natural gas until the matter is properly assessed by the court having regard to the failure of the EMA to consider the safety of this increased volume of natural gas being pumped through the 36-inch pipeline. Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC will be arguing the case for FFOS while Martin Daly SC will represent the EMA. Bp has retained an English lawyer Javan Hebrerg to appear for the company in the Privy Council. The Trinidad lawyers are already in London for the hearing.