We must bring an end to the blame game and political footballing of the oil and gas industry

Nov 10, 2018 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
Results of ‘polls’ wherever and whenever conducted tend to focus inter alia on who is the most popular politician or which party has the largest electoral support among a country’s populace and likely to win an election.
There will always be a debate about how realistic is the precision polls can provide.
In the Guyanese context, we don’t need a poll to tell us who is or are the most popular politicians.
Every Guyanese knows that the answer to that question depends to a large extent on which ethnic group the poll would have matched with the popularity of the politician concerned.
So long as a poll serves as an iteration to reinforce what we all know, then it is of no use whatsoever.
Just one week’s perusal of the daily newspapers tells it all.
Whoever conducts a poll to tell us what we Guyanese already know is taking somebody’s money for free. In the final analysis, Guyanese know best. It is possible but highly improbable that they can be taken for a ride by a poll.
If there is anything resembling a poll that is urgently needed in Guyana it is an Economic Survey and a National Development Strategy.
The government’s Green Paper will not suffice. It is undeliverable because it is not nationally consensual.
An Economic Survey should tell us about the state of the country’s economy with credible and timely data on the key indicators, the changing nature of the economy and which sectors are likely to be the new drivers of the impending changes.
And a National Development Strategy should set out Guyana’s economic and social developmental priorities up to 2028.
In light of the emerging petroleum industry, work on both the survey and the strategy should begin in earnest.
The architects of both projects should take into consideration the modalities used for formulating the National Development Strategy between 1994 and 1996.
Guyana’s petroleum sector will be one of the new, key drivers of Guyana’s changing economy. However, what is not clear to most Guyanese is who will be the principal beneficiaries of the new productive sector.
Already certain sections of the media and some oil and gas skeptics have succeeded in convincing the populace into believing that they ought not to expect any improvement in their living standards with the flow of oil revenues.
And APNU+AFC, in partnership with ExxonMobil, is doing a horrible job in convincing the populace otherwise.
Neither the government nor ExxonMobil has denied any of the reports published in the dailies about the negative role of ExxonMobil in the countries around the world where they may be pumping oil from those countries’ patrimony.
The APNU+AFC coalition administration appears to be helpless in the face of mounting criticism of its posture, vis-à-vis that of ExxonMobil’s, as regards transparency and accountability.
Ask any man or woman on the streets of Georgetown, the overwhelming majority would tell you how skeptical they are about ExxonMobil’s presence and intentions in Guyana.
“We ain’t gat nun fuh get” is what you are likely to hear.
This media-driven skepticism mixed with a highly degree of cynicism does not augur well for the nation’s wellbeing. The gravity of the situation is exemplified by a cursory review of recent newspaper headlines which show the following:
‘Guyana’s model oil contract should be rebuilt not renovated;’ ‘Guyana yet to set itself to become a successful oil producer;’ ‘Bad advice from oil ‘experts’ can leave Guyana poorer;’ ‘Budget cuts to Audit Office will hamper scrutiny of the oil industry;’ ‘No splurging of oil money;’ ‘Parliament must take its role seriously in monitoring Natural Resource Fund;’ World Bank warns about oil sector corruption;’ ‘Secrecy over oil production cost not good for transparency; ‘ Policy needed to keep managers of Guyana’s oil savings from risky corrupt behavior.’
Unless the editors of the newspapers are up to sensationalizing or being mischievous, something must be rotting in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
In any event, it would be unreasonable were the editors not given the benefit of the doubt.
Whether it is an overdose of uninformed negativity or downright fake news, the point is that neither the government nor ExxonMobil has offered any answers whatsoever. It is like talking to a brick wall – you get absolutely no responses.
So dreadful is the situation that Guyanese have to learn from sources outside the country that for the third quarter of 2018 ExxonMobil and Chevron have reported over 1.59 percent and over 3.20 percent increases in profits respectively. This represents their biggest profits in 4 years and shows that declines in oil prices are not so scary after all.
Moreover, according to ‘Real News Network’, a not for profit news and documentary network based in Montreal, Canada, the Attorney General of the State of New York has filed a law suit against ExxonMobil in connection with ‘a longstanding fraudulent scheme to deceive investors by providing false and misleading assurances that it was effectively managing the economic risks posed by increasingly stringent policies and regulations it expected to be adopted to address climate change.’
And as though this was not enough, we are informed that ExxonMobil plans to commit US$1 million over two years to promote a tax on carbon emissions as a tax to discourage companies from emitting carbon and to avoid burdening consumers by returning the money collected via the tax, back to families, to the tune of as much as US$2000 per family annually.
Why such disclosures and many others were never made known to Guyanese by ExxonMobil is anyone’s guess.
Unless these and other matters of national interest are discussed openly and constructively in the context of a national dialogue aimed at formulating the modalities for conducting an Economic Survey and formulating a National Development Strategy, our country will continue to ‘knock from pillar to post.’
Already, the nascent oil and gas sector has become mired in divisive politics. Issues such as the Sovereign Wealth Fund, Local Content and the Composition and Terms Of Reference of the Petroleum Commission are just three cases to mention.
Unlike the sugar, rice and bauxite industries which were birthed in the colonial era, the oil and gas sector is not.
After 52 years of independence, the oil and gas sector should not be subjected to the birth pangs other key productive sectors experienced during the colonial era. Were this to come to pass, we would have committed a grave injustice to the present and future generations to come
With every passing day, consensual politics in respect to the oil and gas sector is being undermined by the lack of transparency and the unwillingness by both government and ExxonMobil to be accountable.
The entire nation is deeply interested in transparency and accountability in any matter that they perceive will affect their daily bread. What goes for one administration goes for the other.
Following local government elections all stakeholders should, in the national interest, seek to find a pathway that would place the key and strategic oil and gas industry on a sound, consensual and nationalistic footing.
It is high time that an end be brought to the blame game and political footballing of the oil and gas industry. Either we seek compromise or face disaster that could haunt us as a nation for years to come.
Yours faithfully
Clement J. Rohee

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