WHILE YOU ARE OUT CAMPAIGNING...

WHILE YOU ARE OUT CAMPAIGNING…

Jan 07, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

There are two things which corrupt oil companies are good at when dealing with poor, developing countries.
They are adept at lining the pockets of crooked politicians so as to obtain favourable deals and, secondly, they incite divisions so that while they are raping the country’s resources, the people are too busy fighting one another to notice.
On December 22 last, Kaieteur News reported that the Republic of South Sudan has been in a state of civil war which the United Nations Human Rights Council says is fueled by oil money.
In the Report of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan which was issued in March 2019, it was reported that the oil revenues, and income from other natural resources such as illegal teak logging, have continued to fund the civil war in South Sudan.
The United States Department of Commerce has designated the oil companies operating in South Sudan as threats to the US’s national security because of their role in fueling the conflict.
A peace deal was struck in 2018 between the parties to the conflict. But there is no guarantee that the peace will last or that a transitional government of national unity will emerge within the next five weeks.
The conflict in South Sudan is not unrelated to the fight for control over the countries oil resources even though this is not the prime factor for the civil war. South Sudan’s is an oil producer. And its economy, including its oil economy, has been weakened by the conflict.
Guyana should learn from the experience of South Sudan. Right now the political parties are in full campaign mode. They are cussing each other out. One side is trying to take credit for bringing oil to Guyana. And the other side is celebrating the commencement of oil production.
Each is contending that it will do a better job at managing the country’s oil resources. None has announced at the launch of their campaigns that they will renegotiate the terms of the production-sharing contracts which have shortchanged the country.
The supporters of the two main contestants – the APNU+AFC and the PPPC – are also oblivious to this issue. They see the elections as determining who will control Guyana’s oil wealth over the next five years but they do not seem to appreciate that there is not going to be that much to be shared around given the deals which were signed by the government with Exxon Mobil and her companies.
What really are these two parties and their supporters fighting over? The oil deal which Guyana got is among the worst that any country has ever received. And Guyana is not in the type of conflict which existed in South Sudan.
While the people of Guyana are fighting over these crumbs, the oil companies are happy because they know that the country is divided and therefore less attention is going to be paid to their operations.
Right now, there has been no visual evidence produced to the public about the commencement of oil production. All the public has been told is that production started on 20th December 2019. There is no word as to whether anyone is out there on the rig monitoring for Guyana what is taking place.
By now the first shipment of oil should have taken place. It was said earlier that each eight to ten days there would be a shipment. Well, by now that shipment should have taken place. But no one seems interested in asking.
And as the days and weeks go by towards elections, all attention will be diverted towards the two main political parties and not towards the oil companies who are extracting the oil.
South Sudan is poor despite oil. Guyana is hoping to get rich because of oil. But if the people continue to be divided over politics, how can there be any assurance that the country’s oil wealth will unite them?