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Basil Williams, Ramjattan, Harmon, Nagamootoo silence deafening on lopsided oil agreement–Ram
Chartered Accountant, Chris Ram
Local commentators have been unceasing in their effort to bring awareness to the damning loopholes in the oil agreement Guyana signed onto with ExxonMobil.
But the ocean of criticisms that has been flooding the daily newspapers has been met with nothing but silence from the top brass of Cabinet, specifically attorneys-at-law; Joseph Harmon, Moses Nagamootoo, Khemraj Ramjattan and Basil Williams.
This was recently pointed out by Chartered Accountant and anti-corruption advocate, Chris Ram.
In his recent writings Ram said, “It is still hard to accept that serious, responsible and educated national leaders—including five attorneys-at-law (Minister of State Joseph Harmon, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman and Attorney General, Basil Williams)—can sit in Cabinet more than fifty years after Independence, and one year AFTER the Contractor had made the world’s largest oil find, and agree to trade the future of an entire country and generations to come.”
Ram said that the prevention of some of the most appalling provisions in the contract only required that a single adult in Cabinet read the contract, understand the language and after being conscious of its implications, warn her/his colleagues of its grave and practically lasting consequences for the country.
Ram said that there were certainly Articles in the Contract which required the contribution of the learned Attorney General, “the Government’s chief legal officer, who has so far stayed out of, or been excluded from, the discussion and debate on the Agreement”.
The Chartered Accountant said it would be particularly interesting to benefit from information on his involvement, learning and contribution, and that of the remaining four attorneys, to the discussion on several articles in the contract which raise serious constitutional issues about the extent to which one government can bind successor governments.
Ram told Kaieteur News that he still finds it unbelievable that the Government which includes five learned lawyers, could sign onto a contract with leaves ExxonMobil exempt from any future changes in law, tax or otherwise.
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