Amid national, regional and int’l ramifications, Guyana openly signed the Payara contract

Oct 03, 2020 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

Earth’s axial tilt (a/k obliquity) is about 23.5 degrees. Due to this axial tilt, the sun shines on different latitudes at different angles throughout the year. This causes the seasons. It rotates on the axis (taking 24 hrs. to complete and causing day and night) at a speed of about 1,037 MPH at the equator, the circumference being 24,898 miles as per NASA. At the said time, as it orbits around the sun (92,955,807 miles away from earth), it is speeding at approximately 67,000 MPH to complete the revolution of about 607 million miles in 365 days. Greenland is on track to lose more ice this century than it has at any other point in the Holocene, the 12,000-year period in which human civilization has flourished, an alarming new study has found as published in the journal, Nature. The latest evidence that Earth’s northernmost ice sheet, which contains enough frozen water to raise global sea levels by 24 feet, has entered a period of rapid decline and may melt away entirely if humanity continues burning fossil fuels at current levels. Wildfires continue to ravage hundreds of thousands of miles in California, destroying man and nature. The world pandemic death toll eclipsed the one million and Guyana is quickly approaching the one hundred mark. As the Jews finished atoning, thousands of Thai devotees lined the banks of a river winding through Bangkok on Thursday to hurl lotus flowers (as a sign of purity) onto a barge carrying a golden Buddha to celebrate the end of a three-month period marking Buddhist Lent. Known in Thai as “Khao Phansa”, the period of Buddhist Lent is a time when monks stay in their temples to meditate. Back in the US, former President Jimmy Carter marked his 96th birthday Thursday, the latest milestone for the longest-lived of the 44 men to hold the highest American office. The 39th president, in office from 1977-81, has largely receded from public view amid the coronavirus pandemic and his own health challenges due to a series of falls in 2019. He previously survived a dire cancer diagnosis in 2015. Yet Carter remains a quiet force in politics at home and, through his post-presidential Center, in public health and human rights advocacy around the world (Carter Center as observer for Guyana’s election). The legend of Mahatma Gandhi lives on as the world celebrates his 151st birth anniversary.
As the world, intrigued with COVID-19, spins on political and financial power under the influence of greed and governance, it wheels around the pretext of pretense and the frustration of oppression; it turns to face global destruction and the struggle for survival through climate changes and social disintegration; and, the universe stands apocalyptically appalled at discrimination and the Trump supremacist fiasco, as allies together look to the US to set the standard as the beacon of democracy and the realization of dreams. President Trump and the First Lady now join other world leaders in testing positive for COVID-19. As reported in Trinidad, people are refusing to be tested and Jamaica has seen one of its senior citizens committing suicide after falling prey to the virus. The death toll keeps rising globally and yet, right here at home, Guyanese still keep down playing the deadliness of the pandemic and not adhering to all of the required protocols. Do we have to wait until death strikes home before we realize the danger and its intensity?
In the heat of all of the national, regional and international ramifications, Guyana openly signed the Payara project contract with ExxonMobil and their affiliates, representing the third field development in the Stabroek Block, increasing oil production by another 220,000 bpd in 2024. Amidst all the discussions, advice, talks, warnings, guidance, counseling and consulting, the agreement is limited, not transparent and it falls short of expectations, despite its improvisation from the predecessor and the protective environmental clauses included. Guyana witnessed the selling out of her rights from the Liza 1 project, followed by the barefaced skullduggery with phase 2. Liza 1 project hasn’t reached maximum production capacity; it is contaminated with numerous imbroglios; pre-production cost auditing hasn’t commenced; Liza 2’s oil production will not materialize until 2022; as per President Ali, Guyana will not be spending any amount of money from her oil revenue for now; Liza 1’s production cost is yet to be confirmed; Liza 2’s cost cannot be determined; Payara’s cost is agreed to an additional US$3B over Phase 2. Guyana is still in a learning stage for managing the oil industry and is now teaming up with external experts to understand the production and marketing process. Guyana’s current economic development is not contingent on her oil revenue. Guyana’s robust and wide variety of rich agricultural crops, and valuable natural resources have financed her economy in the past. Corruption and stealing in the past have plagued the country from reflecting a healthier financial situation. Factoring these basic but salient elements, why did Guyana sign the third contract in such a hurry? What is the rush? Why didn’t Guyana wait like Uganda did? Why didn’t Guyana utilize her strong driving seat as a bargaining power? Did Guyana secure maximum local content protection? Why did Guyana allow herself to look junior to Suriname? Are there provisions to recover the US$55B left on the table? Is Guyana fully satisfied that she has received the best deal? Are there some things that Guyanese need to be made aware of? Are there avenues for Guyana’s ultimate autonomy? The question is, who is wearing a big smile, who is having a laugh and, who is crying?

Respectfully,
Jai Lall

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