We want back our oil blocks!

Oct 15, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

---

Kaieteur News – The PPP/C and the APNU+AFC should not be allowed to negotiate any further agreement concerning the country’s oil wealth. The agreements which have so far been inked by these parties represent a grand betrayal of the people.
The APNU+AFC signed the worst agreement in the history of oil agreements. One independent non-governmental organization, Global Witness, assessed that Guyana left US$55B at the negotiating table in Texas. When one adds to this the massive sums which were foregone at the negotiating table for the Payara Development Plan and the give-away of the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks, it would amount to more than US$200B which a US financial institution now says it can lend to Guyana.
There would have been no need for Guyana to borrow any money if it had obtained a good deal for its oil. The country’s leaders have also shortchanged the country with agreements signed in the bauxite and gold mining sectors.
Those who had harboured hopes that Bharrat Jagdeo would have renegotiated the oil agreements to deliver substantive revisions were disappointed. Not only did the PPP/C, of which he is a part, betrayed the country over the permit for the Payara Field Development Plan, but the explanation and justification given by Jagdeo was pitiful and absurd. Those explanations which he gave about not leveraging the negotiations over the permit to obtain substantive revisions of the oil contract, should convince even his most loyal fans that even he should not be involved in any future negotiations.
But who is there to trust? The people should not trust their leaders to secure the best deal when dealing with the country’s natural resources. It is time for the people to demand the holding of a referendum calling for a rejection of the agreements inked and to demand a renegotiation of the ExxonMobil deal and the return of the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks.
It is time for the people to say to its leaders that we cannot trust you anymore with handling such critical negotiations. It is time that the people mandate the government what needs to be done.
After all, is the government not simply a Board of Trustees for the people? Does the essence of democracy not involve the government acting in accordance with the directives of the people?
The most ideal form of democracy known is direct democracy. In direct democracy, people vote directly to approve or disapprove decisions of the government.
However, in modern societies direct democracy is impractical. You cannot bring all the people together in one single location in order to vote on a measure. Perhaps with advances in ICT, this can be done virtually. But for the time being, direct democracy is impractical.
But why should the people of a country hand over full authority for the country’s decision making to a handful of leaders. Look what our leaders have done with our oil blocks – Stabroek, Canje and Kaieteur! Look at their missteps in relation to the negotiation of the permits for Liza Phase 1, Liza Phase 2 and Payara!
Our leaders cannot be trusted any longer. They were silent when they are supposed to be levelling with the people. They negotiated secretly many of these oil deals and tried to keep them secret. It was because of pressure from this newspaper that they relented and made the agreements public.
But lo’ and behold, presented with a golden opportunity to make things right, they have fumbled the ball again. So why should the people trust them anymore with negotiating the country’s oil wealth?
There is one route still open to the people. It is the closest thing to direct democracy. It is called a referendum. In a referendum, the people are asked to give their direct consent for certain measures. This often has to do with issues concerning changes to certain clauses of the Constitution.
But referenda can also be used to derive the consent of the people on other public concerns. The people of Scotland recently voted on whether they should secede from the United Kingdom. On November 1 this year, the people of Osaka in Japan will decide whether that area becomes a metropolis like Tokyo. There are now stirrings within Wales for a referendum on its relationship with the UK.
There is no reason why the people of Guyana should not demand a referendum on the terms of the ExxonMobil contract and on the giveaway of the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks. This is the only avenue short of nationalization which would allow the Guyanese people to reclaim the billions of US dollars which were left at the negotiating table by both the APNU+AFC and the PPP/C.
Incidentally, this is the same billions which the country’s leaders now want us to borrow to fund the development which should have been funded by the proceeds which were left at the negotiating tables.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

---

---