OIL COULD CHANGE GUYANA

Nov 24, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Despite the discovery of oil by the US oil giant, ExxonMobil, it would still be difficult to assess Guyana’s future based on its oil potential. Should it be with pessimism as some suggest, or with optimism as others imply.
The answer seems to lie in how one will measure the likely impact the oil revenues will have on society. If utilized properly, the discovery of oil could change the face of the country.
Looked at objectively, it is probable that over the next decade, the country’s economy could benefit significantly from the expected oil revenues. Being one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere, revenue from the oil could lead to the development of manufacturing and the assembly of products. It could reduce the country’s indebtedness, generate more capital and increase the pace of the development of tourism which Guyana is yearning to achieve.
To these possibilities might be added the creation of jobs and the opportunity for the government to take advantage of talented individuals in the diaspora to help drive the growth of a high-tech economy and services.
While the future looks bright for the country and its citizens, yet it does not reveal in what way all of the people might benefit in the longer term. More specifically, it does not speak to how the government intends to use the oil revenue to trigger new developments and new investments in social infrastructure.
During the past eighteen months, there have only been a few new foreign investments in the country. And while they invariably bring some benefits in the form of employment, it is unclear how much new revenue they have generated for the government.
The country needs even more ideas that will take environmental concerns and the common good into consideration in the impending oil exploration ventures. This is not to suggest a reversion of the old approach but it is for civil society in particular to consider how the revenues that might reasonably be expected to flow from the oil might best be used.
At the end of last month, Jeff Simmons, Exxon Mobil’s manager in Guyana stated that it will be the government’s responsibility and not Exxon Mobile to create employment by using the revenue it earns from the oil.
Let us hope that the government takes such a statement seriously. It will be wonderful if it takes the revenue that accrues from the oil and uses it to help develop the various communities, public education which is in poor shape and health care which is lagging behind most countries in the Caribbean.
Apart from the elite schools, the country’s public education is failing to turn out students with the type of qualifications or skills that will enable them to succeed in the highly competitive technology-based industries on which Guyana’s future rests. Guyana needs an educational philosophy that involves an assessment of its key competencies and focuses on the new economic development areas where it might hope in future to have a competitive advantage, and an approach more closely related to the digital world.
As capital begins to flow from oil, the face of Guyana will begin to change. Its debt will likely reduce, its economy could improve and jobs could be created. In other words, the sky would be the limit for Guyana. However, much more serious thoughts should be given as to how the revenues from the oil are to be used to ensure that no one is left behind. Indeed, oil could change Guyana.