It would be a shame and downright disgrace…

Dec 20, 2019 Letters

---

DEAR EDITOR,

It would be a shame and downright disgrace if we Guyanese were to wake up one day only to discover that we have been shafted and left empty-handed with nothing but incompetence and penury for ourselves, our children and grandchildren to inherit, instead of tangible benefits from profits accrued from the oil and gas industries.
Since the discovery of oil as part of our national patrimony, the enormous number of ideas, suggestions, calculations, criticisms, letters to editors, front page comments and editorials that have been published far outnumber those published in respect to general and regional elections.
Don’t talk about the number of workshops, seminars, lectures, talks, discussions and consultations that have been held thus far at the Marriott, Pegasus, Princess, Duke Lodge and other locations, it’s like talk-shop galore!
The discovery of oil and gas has also given rise to an abundance of overnight ‘specialists,’ ‘consultants’ etc; who, by the way, never lifted a finger in the oil and gas sector in any part of the world, but have suddenly become ‘experts’ on the subject.
A few short courses here and there as well as extensive plagiarism from articles treating with the vagaries of the oil and gas industries on Facebook, from Time and the Economist monthlies, seem to be just good enough to rebrand oneself either as an ‘expert’ or simply ‘knowledgeable’ on the oil and gas industry.
However, the real McCoys with years of experience under their belt, are those who sit at the headquarters of the ExxonMobils and Tullows of this world. These shadowy individuals must be following with amusement how we Guyanese are struggling to come to grips with the intricacies of a highly complex and global industry.
Here are some of the issues they must have been tracking and formulating position papers on for their internal use:
1) Guyana’s insufficient national capacity to manage/administer its oil and gas sector;
2) The absence of enough checks and balances in place to address the vagaries of the sector;
3) That Guyana is into first oil as a nation divided politically and shaped by the divisive narrative that “both sides want to get their hands on the oil money;”
4) There is no bipartisan strategy to address public concerns confronting the sector;
5) Government’s face to face bidding process for the first three shipments of Guyana’s oil profit has been roundly criticized publicly;
6) Public criticism has arisen over the signing off of a lifting contract which has been deemed illegal;
7) Public calls have been made to renegotiate ExxonMobil’s contract;
8) Public criticisms have been made over government’s policy that no penalties will be levied on oil companies for overstatements;
9) Stakeholders have called on the United Nations to put paid to “Guyana’s oil activities until the (Guyanese) people’s human rights are protected”.
The lure of money to line the pockets of an avaricious group, is reminiscent of the era of the gold rush portrayed in the movies ‘North to Alaska’ or ‘White Fang,’ only this time around, Rachel Boyton’s ‘Big Men’ or Alex Gibney’s ‘Enron – the Smartest Guys in the Room’ are more relevant to watch in these exciting yet troubling times.
What is worrisome is where is all this information ending up? Who is gathering the data being bandied about? Why isn’t there a national depository for storage of the published information? Where is the separation of scientific knowledge from the trash-talking place? Why hasn’t a scientifically-based national committee been established to do the analysis? Why hasn’t a broad-based national committee been established to ensure that the common man and woman be the principal beneficiaries of revenues from the oil sector?
Why can’t we, like the strategists at their headquarters in Texas and elsewhere, put in place a dedicated, national consensual team whose task will be, among others, to gather and analyze relevant data and, to develop strategic and developmental approaches for the utilization of resources that will flow from profits derived from the petroleum sector?
As a nation, it is to be regretted that we’ve lost almost three years without reaching a multiparty agreement on a national petroleum strategy and an implementation plan for the development of the oil and gas industries. In the meantime, the transnational corporations and the Trinidadians are moving in and wasting no time to ‘get on top of things.’
The point here is not to engage in the blame game, but to emphasize the fact that our failure to draw up a consensual national development plan for the oil and gas industry lies squarely at the feet of the APNU+AFC. This national deficit can have widespread ramifications for us as a nation in the short, medium and long term.
The debate currently taking place on oil and gas appears to be more balanced in favour of vested interests at home and abroad rather than those of the Guyanese common man and woman. Compounding the imbalance is the fear that oil money can influence local politics and ultimately, the electoral process and perhaps, the outcome.
These legitimate concerns over the Guyanese people’s welfare are not penetrating the information and misinformation blitzkrieg on oil and gas. Small wonder why there is so much cynicism and indifference amongst the populace about them benefiting anything at all.
It is in this context that questions are being asked whether Guyana can re-invent itself with the people at the centre of development in light of the huge role the oil and gas industry will play in Guyana’s future development.
Sections of the media, save and except the Guyana Chronicle, have done a great job in sensitizing the nation about the good, the bad and the ugly of oil and gas industries around the world. There is certainly no shortage of information out there on the subject.
The Guyana Chronicle has done an extremely poor job, save for the occasional bleating from the President and his Department of Energy who, rather than holding out hope for the poor and dispossessed, has done more harm than good.
Yours faithfully,
Clement J. Rohee

---

---