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Guyana is on a collision course with the resource curse
Dear Editor,
Since the discovery of 0il in the Stabroek Block a few days before the Coalition Government took office to present date, it seems like destiny has slowly ordained Guyana for the “resource curse.”
Within four months in Office the Government had admitted that they were inexperienced but they were learning. Their theme in the election campaign that inspired the votes for them-”transparency and accountability,” they quickly swept under the carpet.
The machination of “oil and gas” was relatively unknown to Guyanese. Kaieteur News did a great service to the nation by exposing the track record of ExxonMobil around the globe. Initially! Exxon spoke of pumping oil by 2020-the Government had five years to get it right for Guyana. What did they do?
In 2016 they signed a PSA with Exxon without any consultation with the populace, collected a signing bonus of US$18 million and kept it in a secret account and denied it when asked, until evidence in the form of a letter surfaced.
In 2017 Exxon came with an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) a requirement before production begins) and despite being advised that it was flawed the Government signed it. When it became common knowledge to the public that the EIA did not hold Exxon liable for any damage to the environment in the event of an oil spill. Minister Patterson had the audacity to publicly state that the EIA was only for the first 450,000 barrels pumped out of the Stabroek block-—another dry lie!
In December, when the PSA was finally released and found wanting, the Minister of Natural Resource sought to distance himself from the Agreement by saying that “Mr Newell Dennison (commissioner of GGMC) and his team were the principal negotiators (of the Exxon petroleum agreement)”.
Whereas, clear language of chapter 6 of the preamble states that “GGMC has been authorized by the Minister (of natural resource) to assist and support the negotiations of this agreement subject to the provisions of the Act. Clearly! The minister is responsible for the final agreement.
The asininity of the PSA is astounding! It seems to offer Trotman a job somewhere in the vicinity of Exxon’s tax liaison Guyana operative, where Trotman is responsible to pay its taxes to GRA and deliver receipts to Exxon. Why did the Harvard Grad with distinction in negotiations not object to that?
Maybe Harvard doesn’t teach anything on conflict of interest! While the public was clamoring for transparency and accountability our top diplomat, Carl Greenidge, after the exposure of the $18 million “signing bonus”, made one of the most notorious remark-”Many of those who talk transparency, their activities won’t see the light of day.”
Now all these people, Trotman, Patterson and Greenidge are all Government ministers. You have to wonder where is their sense of responsibility to the Nation!
A few days ago the Minister of Business, speaking at the pre GIMPEX forum scheduled for next year said, “There are a number of interventions that are being made and measures that are being put in place to ensure that Guyana and Guyanese are the main beneficiaries of all that is taking place offshore.”
This is dialectal nonsense- An agreement is an agreement, PSA or EIA. There is no room for interventions. The most the Government can do is execute on what is written in the existing agreements with Exxon.
You don’t have to be business savvy to know that! Minister Gaskin spoke of the pitfalls encountered by many countries at the hands of Exxon then added, “But I think we have heard a lot about this and we have learnt a lot about this from others. We don’t intend to make those mistakes and I can give that assurance.”
What was he talking about? The “proof is in the pudding “(PSA and EIA). The Minister then added a touch of humor by saying that the Government would ensure Guyana walks a different path; one paved with transparency and accountability.
When does that begin? The PSA, EIA and most of all, the signing bonus fiasco were more indicative of trampling on his so called, paved path of transparency and accountability.
Judging from what had transpired since the advent of oil, it seems the “writing is on the wall”-the resource curse is on a collision course with Guyana. Is it destiny or are we standing on a geological fault line of the curse?
I think not. Vexatious and inept governance is navigating Guyana to the resource curse.
Rudolph Singh
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