Shutting down if not prospering

Aug 25, 2020 Editorial

“We might as well shut down the oil sector if Guyanese don’t share in the prosperity.” So said Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo during an interview on Kaieteur Radio last week. We wholeheartedly agree with what is an unambiguous statement of likely seriousness, which we at this paper would support, if the decision makers at Exxon do not yield for our benefit.
We now reduce this to the everyday, so that every Guyanese could understand and appreciate where we are coming from, and what are our concerns. If someone comes into our kitchen and continuously carries away the goods, without material benefits coming our way for our families and their wellbeing, then we might as well close the door and keep our rations. Like perishable agricultural commodities and animal products, if the price is not right, then it simply does not make any sense to keep going down the same unprofitable road. For before long the household goods, our national patrimony, will be depleted and gone, with nothing to show for it, but our regret, our pains, and our tears.
Exxon should get us straight, and this is what we think Mr. Jagdeo is saying and the way his government is leaning at the present time. Guyana is not asking for an arm and a leg, not even a pound of flesh. All that it is asking for is more than the terms of a contract that compels to scratching out a living and which forces us to being content with merely getting by. The current provisions of the partnership, as enshrined in every clause of that dastardly contract reduces us to beggars. We say that that is not good enough. Because the question that could be reasonably asked then is this: what are we living for, if not to surrender our dignity and our prosperity to the greed of Exxon and its partners?
We ask for a careful and sensible listening to what we are saying almost without interruption. What we are saying and putting on the table is that the leaders of Exxon pause and listen for a start, which would be the height of corporate wisdom. Give Guyana a better deal, be a better partner by spreading the wealth around, where all parties get a piece of the rich action, and both sides could develop both regard and appreciation of the other. Currently, this is not the case, for what we have is too lopsided and skewed in ExxonMobil’s favour. And whenever Exxon is favoured so richly, then all Guyana comes out poorly. However this is twisted and turned, at the end of the day, Exxon always comes out ahead with the bigger piece of the pie and a richer share. What could be better than that for the company? What could be worse than that for us Guyanese?
We cannot go on like this, and something must give. It is why we are encouraged by Vice President’s Jagdeo clearly stated position, which most likely has been given serious and continual weighing within senior government circles. Exxon must listen and recognize what it must do, and early. For when Exxon steps up and does its part by being more receptive to our positions and more generous with the oil proceeds, then everybody prospers. We want it to make money, and by the same token, we wish that the company will make good money from Guyana. How can it not do so, and hand over fist? But when all is said and done, we too must make money from our oil wealth. It must not be the patronizing pittance of a handout and a trickle, but of the truly prospering that helps us carve out and become masters of our own destiny.
Vice President Jagdeo in going public about contemplating ‘shut down’ was not threatening. We hope that he was not blustering or bluffing. He was simply articulating the power of our passions and the promise of the lengths we may be forced to go if Exxon does not respond with the practical and constructive. It must be what is practical for the company and this country. It must be only about what is constructive for both in this oil undertaking.

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Shutting down if not prospering

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