M&AOSB Receives Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for Proposed Offshore Supply Base

Kyisin H. Aung

After nearly three years of commencing ESIA works, M&AOSB has received an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) in April 2019 for the proposed Offshore Supply Base (OSB) in Nga Yoke Kaung Bay. Nga Yoke Kaung Bay was chosen after a careful site selection process that included technical, environmental, and social criteria, based on a third party expert recommendation. The receipt of an ECC is a major milestone confirming that M&AOSB has completed its ESIA in accordance with the prevailing Myanmar laws and national guidelines. M&AOSB’s ESIA went through a rigorous and multi-stakeholder review process led by the Environmental Conservation Department lasting almost one and a half years. The expert review panel is made up of ministries, other government bodies, academics, and subject matter experts, and approximately 70 reviewers deliberated over findings in two review team meetings lasting 11 hours. In addition to the multi-stakeholder desktop review, ECD and expert reviewers visited the M&AOSB project area in November 2018 for the purposes of ground-truthing and provided suggestions to improve the assessment.

Transparency and project information disclosure

M&AOSB’s ESIA took 8 public consultation rounds which included 32 engagement workshops in 7 locations, covering 4 cities and 3 village tracts. Over 1,400 project stakeholders were consulted through community meetings, in addition to the continued engagement that took place with community stakeholders.

In June 2016, M&AOSB undertook an observation trip to the intended project area to study the socioeconomic conditions of local communities. In an effort to be a good neighbor, initial engagement and public consultations took place in October 2016 to introduce the MPRL E&P Group of Companies and its track record as a responsible investor. During this consultation round, two community-based volunteers from Mann Field traveled to Nga Yoke Kaung to attest to MPRL E&P Group’s environmental and social performance and to solicit concerns and feedback from local communities concerning the new planned project.

In December 2016, M&AOSB appointed a global sustainability consultancy, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), to independently evaluate the environmental and social impacts associated with the proposed project. Following the Myanmar EIA Procedures (2016), the findings were disclosed to project stakeholders and the general public in March 2018 in a total of 8 disclosure workshops. Disclosure workshops were completed with the intent to:

1. Provide information about the proposed project and the developer
2. Disclose findings of the EIA and measures that the developer commits to implementing in order to mitigate adverse impacts to the environment and the communities as a result of project activities
3. Seek comments from a diverse range of stakeholders on the EIA results
4. Secure free, prior, informed consultation (FPIC) of project-affected stakeholders

During the workshops, ERM discussed in detail the baseline conditions of the biophysical and human environment near the project site, expected impact of the project on these environments, mitigation measures that M&AOSB will implement during the life cycle of the project, and monitoring plans to evaluate changes to these environments.

In June 2019, M&AOSB disclosed its final EIA report and ECC in coordination with the Ayeyarwady Regional Government (ARG), which included representatives from the Ayeyarwady Region Investment Commission (ARIC), Environmental Conservation Department, Port Authority, Department of Labor, as well as Regional and Township General Administration Departments. During the workshops, the questions and key concerns raised by the community stakeholders were addressed by related government entities and M&AOSB representatives.

Key Highlights of ECC Disclosure Workshops

M&AOSB is the very first offshore supply base project in Myanmar to be granted an ECC.  In June 2017, M&AOSB received a permit from the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) to build and operate a supply base in Myanmar that will offer comprehensive services, reliability, and efficiency as well as the industry accepted health, safety, and environmental standards required by international and national energy companies operating offshore oil & gas blocks in Myanmar.

For more information, our ECC and EIA Report are available at
https://myintassociatesosb.com/impact-assessments/.

Key Milestones of the M&AOSB Environmental & Social Impact Assessment

The ESIA Process