Govt. appoints environmentalist to Energy Dept. and energy expert to head EPA, they are clearly confused- Ramson

Oct 07, 2018 News

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By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell
 ““Dr. Adams served the United States Department of Energy for decades. His expertise in oil and gas is second to none in Guyana. He comes with world class knowledge in the sector and is highly respected; why not him for Guyana’s Energy Department?”
With almost every decision it makes, the APNU+AFC, Government demonstrates that it is woefully confused and is still not ready to handle the business of the nation, said Attorney at Law, Charles Ramson, yesterday to Kaieteur News.
Ramson said that he can point to many decisions made by the government that highlight its confusion but wanted to speak specifically to the recent “appointment blunder”.
The lawyer, who has a Masters’ degree in Oil and Gas management, noted that Government appointed Dr. Vincent Adams, a Guyanese oil and gas expert, to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after appointing an environmentalist to head the Department of Energy.
Ramson said that he cannot understand why Government would choose to put a square peg in a round hole as important as the Energy Department

when someone at Dr. Adams’s level is available.
Ramson said that Dr. Adams should have been the one heading the Department of Energy.
The Attorney noted that Dr. Adams held very senior positions during his employment with the United States Government.
“Dr. Adams served the United States Department of Energy for decades so his expertise in oil and gas is second to none in Guyana. He comes with world class knowledge in the sector and is highly respected; why not him for Guyana’s Energy Department?”
Ramson said that international oil companies would not have liked to see someone of Dr. Adams’s caliber, expertise and experience sitting on the other side of the negotiation table.
Ramson pointed that, on the other hand, Dr. Bynoe has no experience in oil and gas. “The things he has to go and learn Dr. Adams has known for decades.
President David Granger had said that Dr. Bynoe will get the guidance he needs to run the department from world class experts that he will hire.
Responding to that yesterday, Ramson said, “Information and the advice Dr. Bynoe receives from any consultant has to then be processed or filtered through your own understanding knowledge and expertise.
“How do we know that a foreign consultant who has no ties to Guyana is giving us good advice?”
Ramson continued, “How do we know that they will not be infiltrated or influenced by the other oil companies? At least with Dr. Adams, he is a Lindener and he had stayed engaged with the community and the country. We know where his loyalty lies.

“I am not talking politically. I am saying he is a patriot with the experience needed to make right decisions.”
At the beginning of October, Dr. Adams took over the EPA; Dr. Bynoe started at the Department of Energy since August 1.
Dr. Adams is the holder of a Degree in Civil Engineering, a Masters’ Degree in Petroleum and Geological Engineering and another in Geohydrol-ogy. The scientist is also the holder of a PhD in Petroleum and Geological Engineering and another in Environ-mental Engineering.
He retired last year, after three decades with the United States Department of Energy, where he served in key leadership roles including technology development; dismantlement and cleanup of the nation’s nuclear weapons complexes; executing the Government’s Environmental Stimulus programme and creating and managing the Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) programmes for nine universities in the U.S.
Dr. Adams also served as U.S. Representative and expert to the International Atomic Energy Agency on project management, and technology and standards development for member nations; U.S. Representative on the Nuclear Energy Agency/Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Task Group and Chairman of two major International Science & Engineering conferences.
His other roles included serving as Chairman of the Southern Section of The Air & Waste Management Association – the pre-eminent environmental professional organisation with over 10,000 members internationally.
Adams also led technology development for protection of ports and highways from terrorist attacks; transformation of nuclear weapons technologies into applications for medicine, greenhouse gas curtailment of fuel cells; and transformation of two Federal Departments into High Performing Organisations.
He developed the equations governing state-of-the-art industrial air pollution control systems; and as a Senior Petroleum Engineer with AMOCO Oil Company, conducted pioneering work to enhance the recovery of oil and gas that is now widely used in the oil industry.
While he had been returning annually to the country of his birth for over three decades to conduct charity work, Dr. Adams signaled his intention after retiring from DoE, to return and serve here.
Earlier this year, he was appointed the Visiting Distinguished Engineer in Residence at the University of Guyana (UG), taking on a leading role in restructuring and revamping the Faculty of Technology, with a vision of leading the capacity-building for oil and gas production and, for the longer term, to transform the faculty into a world-class engineering department.
Initial ongoing activities, he had informed at the time, included establishing partnerships with private industries and the local private sector, government, other universities such as the University of the West Indies and the University of Trinidad and Tobago; uplifting the faculty’s resources; upgrading the curricula to match the needs of the country; and seeking national and international accreditation.

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