Guyana makes oral presentation to UN – on continental shelf extension

Guyana on Wednesday made an oral presentation in support of its submission for an extended continental shelf to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The presentation was made by Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Minister Rodrigues-Birkett was accompanied by Foreign Ministry Director General Ambassador Elisabeth Harper; Guyana Permanent Ambassador to the United Kingdom George Talbot; Guyana Ambassador to Suriname Keith George; Guyana Geology and Mines Commission Petroleum Division Manger Newell Dennison; and Foreign Ministry Advisor Dr Barton Scotland.

Scientific advisers of the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources Dr Snejana Zaric and Dr Norbert Ott also formed part of the Guyana’s delegation.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, this presentation forms part of the requirements for the consideration of the submissions for an extended continental shelf by States Parties of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Guyana made its submission for an extended continental shelf to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on September 6, 2011.

The Venezuelan government had criticised the fact that the Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf (CLCS) is considering a request made by this country last year to extend its continental shelf. Caracas had expressed its view before the United Nations (UN) about Guyana’s application.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry in a statement in March reported that Caracas reminded the UN that the territory west of the Essequibo River is the subject of a territorial sovereignty dispute “inherited from colonialism” and subject to the Geneva Agreement of 1966 and, within this context, to the Good Offices of the UN secretary general, “to which Venezuela is fully committed”.

According to the press release, Venezuela “informed promptly the government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana about our move, which complies with international law and the procedures of the Organisation of the United Nations”. Guyana’s application, submitted on September 6, 2011 to the CLCS, states that “there are no disputes in the region relevant to this submission of data and information relating to the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles”. “

Guyana’s claim that there are no disputes in the region disregards the contents of the Geneva Agreement, under which the then British Guiana recognised the dispute over the Essequibo and agreed to seek a settlement satisfactory to both parties,” the Venezuelan government said.

Following Guyana’s application, the Venezuelan government had reacted strongly in a statement which prompted a meeting between the two countries foreign ministers: Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Nicolás Maduro. The two ministers had met in Trinidad and Tobago last September to discuss the issue. The UN Good Officer, Professor Norman Girvan, was invited to the meeting.

Venezuela had branded Guyana’s request to the United Nations to expand the limits of its continental shelf from 200 to 350 nautical miles as an “irregular situation”, and chastised Georgetown for not informing Venezuela directly.

But Guyana said it was taking the necessary actions to preserve the right that assists it with respect to the projection of its seafront.

In its reaction, Venezuela said it received, on September 7, 2011, the official notification that Guyana had lodged a presentation on the outer limits of the continental shelf of Guyana, within the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which this country belongs to, with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS).

Guyana responded on September 27, refuting Venezuela’s statement, saying that since 2009 it submitted its claim for the extension of the continental shelf to the Venezuelan embassy here under cover of a note verbal. The embassy, the release said, was served a copy of the preliminary information which was submitted to the secretary general of the United Nations.

“That document constitutes the executive summary of Guyana’s full submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, except for the fact that it has adjusted coordinates for the outer limits of the extended continental shelf based on additional seismic data that were obtained after May 2009.”

“The government of Guyana wishes to state that, as was made pellucid in Guyana’s submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, Guyana’s submission of information and data pursuant to Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is without prejudice to any future maritime delimitation exercise with neighbouring states. The communiqué from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela recognises that fact, since it declared that the submission of the Republic of Guyana does not prejudge eventual maritime delimitation between Guyana and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”

Guyana had also reiterated its interest in continued harmonious relations with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and anticipates that since Guyana’s submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is without prejudice to future maritime delimitation exercises with neighbouring states, whether within or beyond 200 nautical miles. This issue would not be allowed to adversely affect the exceptionally good relations that exist between Guyana and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the release said.