Patriotism is an ocean away from conscience.

Mar 01, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,

I refer to an article publish a few days ago entitled “Guyana has to learn to play by the rules of international business”, by Sherwood Lowe. In his missive Sherwood Lowe begins by writing that he shares, “the same anxieties as many compatriots over whether Government’s share of the revenues from the 2016 Petroleum Agreement will be the bonanza to finally launch the country into the economic stratosphere.”
Why does it have to be Government’s share? Why can’t loyal party supporters on both sides of the divide understand that Government is part of a political administration that is granted the right by virtue of popular vote to administer the affairs of the state?
Has Mr Lowe done the Maths on 2% royalty and US$460 million cost at the point of discovery? Has he contemplated what might be the cost by the time the first oil is produced? It is difficult to imagine how he conceives of revenues to “finally launch the country into economic stratosphere.
Lowe spoke of the favorable terms advertised in the GGMC web site to attract investors and of the petroleum prospecting and production license signed by the previous government with Exxon and CGX and that these terms and conditions should not be changed to our advantage from “the conditions that LURED the company in the first place”-after oil is found.
Lowe used the word “lured” but missed the true concept. Lowe in his unwavering support for the government’s deeds, made no mention that the PPP claim that they had signed the agreements with both ExxonMobil and CGX based on a template which was being used at the time when the country was seeking investment in petroleum exploration.
No oil had yet been found” and there is a clause in the petroleum prospecting license that states. “Subject to this Act, a person who holds a petroleum prospecting license may apply for the renewal of the license, but not more than twice, in accordance with the Regulations.”Article (24) of the said document limits the term of renewal for a period of not more than three years.
Maybe the framers of this template really intended to lure. Nothing is wrong with that. They somehow seem to know that no one could have found oil and extract it all in six years-hence a PSA had to ensue. The Coalition Government with all its lawyers probable never examined the document for its catch. This is total ineptness on their part.
Maybe in 2016 they were still too busy celebrating their victory in the 2015 elections! The president for his part, hired an advisor on petroleum and probably never used him. The PSA hands the scepter and the purse to Exxon, yet the president said they will not renegotiate it. This government portrays a reluctance to admit its faults-they did it with VAT on private education, which they rescinded in an illusionary manner this year.
This flawed PSA is huge. It will hurt our people for two generations, in this regard I call on the government to swallow its pride and do what is right for Guyana by renegotiating the PSA –show some respect to the concerns of the people!
Sherwood Lowe said that many are of the opinion that after oil was found we should use this fact to “extract a better deal.”Correct! An investor searching for oil in our territory, after finding it, should no longer be soup-fed because he will now become an extractor of our resource.
He is not going to pack up and take his investment to the “Rock of Gibraltar” where there is definitely no oil. We could have at least ask for something in the vicinity of what Ghana got recently from the said Exxon Mobil.
The search for oil is done on the basis of geological data. So that crap from Trotman that ”Other companies had shied away from developing the resource offshore” and for that Exxon had to be given a good deal is utter rubbish.
Sherwood Lowe finished his missive by saying.”The 2016 deal is sealed. It is time for us to begin, in a more structured and sustained manner, to discuss how we can wisely use our God-given blessings to transform the lives of our citizens within the next five years. “
Audacious! Sherwood ! Sherwood! Patriotism is an ocean away from convenience.
Rudolph Singh

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