“He who pays the piper calls the tune”

Jun 20, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

A recent article on June 18th in KN – “IMF meeting with Govt…Concerns raised over absence of ring-fencing provision in ExxonMobil-Guyana oil deal”- is only another item in a series of idiotic facts about the contents of our PSA being revealed by international experts and keeps gracing the pages of our papers on a weekly basis.
It is a constant reminder of the grave disadvantages that are embedded in the PSA signed onto by Govt. with Exxon. Appearing on the 16th in KN was,” Guyana should not be paying an oil company’s taxes……” This was identified in our PSA by a Texas University instructor.
Instructor Tom Mitro opined that he found it quite peculiar that Guyana agreed to pay the income taxes for ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) and its two other partners on the Stabroek Block, Hess and CNOOC/NEXEN, out of the government’s share of the profits, as identified in section 15.4 (a) of our PSA.
The PSA dictates that,” the Ministry pays Exxon and partners’ Corporate income taxes out of the Government’s share; then passes on a tax receipt to Exxon in their names which states that Exxon has paid the taxes.”
With this receipt Exxon is able, “to obtain a home country (U.S.) foreign tax credit for those taxes paid on their behalf.”
Can our PSA get more asinine in favour of our demise?
Tom Mitro’s advice to Guyanese is, “You should stop saying that you are getting a 50-50 split. That is false, because you have to pay the company and its partners’ taxes out of your share, so stop focusing on that.”
If the public could recall. It was the present coalition Govt. without any consultation with the owners of our resources – the people of Guyana – that signed the controversial PSA with Exxon in secret and when the contract was released and found wanting, had refused to consider renegotiation of the PSA.
To this date they remain adamant, despite numerous experts citing numerous irregularities, illegalities and unorthodoxies in the PSA. The Government’s hardline stance against renegotiation of the PSA has inspired our own watchdog organization (Transparency Institute Guyana Initiative ) to ascertain that, “the PSA Government signed with Exxon’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) for the concession, is “illegal, irretrievably flawed” and “either the result of grand corruption or grand incompetence.”
I am of the opinion that “grand corruption” ruled the roost in our PSA with Exxon. I cannot comprehend this magnitude of incompetence, even in uneducated adults. The reluctance to consider renegotiation of the PSA is in sync with and old adage – “he who pays the piper calls the tune”.
Given the present PSA with Exxon, as time goes on, this government will be saddled with the legacy as the one that planted the seed for the resource curse for Guyana.
Rudolph Singh

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