Dear President Ali,
We the undersigned are citizens of Guyana residing in Guyana or members of the Guyana diaspora or people of the Caribbean.
We are deeply concerned that ExxonMobil Guyana Ltd.’s deepwater petroleum operations offshore Guyana are a danger to Guyana and the Caribbean.
ExxonMobil’s Environmental Impact Assessments show that if there is an oil spill, the oil could reach all the way to Jamaica, with over a dozen Caribbean countries being negatively affected.
This could result in US$ billions in harm to the economies, businesses, livelihoods and environments of Guyana and the Caribbean.
An ‘Oil Pollution Prevention Preparedness Response and Responsibility Bill’ has recently (May 16 2025) been passed by a bare majority of the Government MPs but is not yet law without your assent.
The Bill has been condemned by experts as unconstitutional and an attempt by the Guyana government to change the law in order to protect ExxonMobil Guyana Ltd.’s parent company ExxonMobil Corporation from having to pay for oil spill damage to Guyana and the Caribbean.
We thank these experts for their dedication to the people of Guyana and the Caribbean.
ExxonMobil Corporation should not be permitted to drill for oil through ExxonMobil Guyana Ltd. unless they can show that it is safe and that they will pay for all the damage to our environments, businesses, economies, communities, and livelihoods.
In light of the controversy and legal defects in the Bill as well as the real and significant danger posed to numerous Caribbean nations, we respectfully request that your Excellency Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, withhold your assent from the Bill.
Signed,
Vincent Adams- Retired Senior Executive, US Dept of Energy, Guyana
Carmelita Agranoff
Mary Bernard Albertsen- Guyana
Beverly Bain- Trinidad and Tobago
- Bharrat- Guyana
Andre Brandli- Guyana
Sandra Brewster- Guyana
Susan Collymore- Guyana
Frederick Collins- Transparency Institute Guyana Inc, Guyana
Luke Daniels- Caribbean Labour Solidarity, Guyana
Karen de Souza- Red Thread, Guyana
Eunice Graham- Jamaican Canadian Association, Jamaica
Ra Hendricks- African Remembrance Day Committee, Guyana
Madeleine Jaundoo- Guyana
Halima Khan- Guyana
Colin Klautky- Guyanese Organization of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP), Guyana Vidyaratha Kissoon- citizen, Guyana
romola lucas- Guyana
Joy Marcus- Guyana
Diana McCaulay- Jamaica Environment Trust, Jamaica
Mike McCormack- Guyana Human Rights Association, Guyana
Mil- Guyana
Sherlina Nageer- The Greenheart Movement, Guyana
Mary Peter Ngui- Guyana
Roshawna Pilgrim- Guyana
Danuta Radzik- Guyana
Vanda Radzik- Guyana
Christopher Ram- Ram & McRae, Guyana
Maeve Ramsay- Guyana
Sharida Reuben- Guyana
Christine Samwaroo- The Breadfruit Collective, Guyana
Rehanna Thomas- Guyana
Dr. Demond Thomas- TIGI, Guyana
Alissa Trotz- Guyana
Wintress White- Guyana
Godfrey Whyte- Transparency International, Guyana
Emmanuel Williams- Coquenomade-fraternite, Martinique
Additional comments from signatories:
- Please do the right thing for the people, the environment, and a better future for all.
- We should act in wisdom acquired from countries who had oil discovery and were exploited in a similar way.
- Think of the generations to come, Sir. They’ll need a clean environment!
- Concerned citizens across the globe are calling their respective national governments to account to implement policies which will assure the protection of the earth’s flora and fauna and its air and waters. Those of us born and bred in Guyana, at home and in the diaspora, have a deep love and respect for the natural resources we have come to inherit and demand that any elected government which claims to represent the democratic will of the people, of all the people, should strive to protect all of the assets on the land and in the rivers and bordering ocean for the benefit of future generations of Guyanese and our neighbours.
- Mr President, you must stop this Bill in our national and regional interest.
- This bill is unnecessary and an intended reversal of the full liability protection already in place via existing laws and regulations and by Judge Kissoon’s decision. The Attorney General’s own words clearly demonstrates that the aim for this Bill was to overturn Judge Kissoon’s decision calling for unlimited liability coverage.
