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Joseph Harmon again dodges question on promised oil and gas press conference
Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon
Kaieteur News – Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon, has yet again dodged on his commitment to host an oil and gas press conference, aimed at delivering information on the awards of the Kaieteur and Canje Oil Blocks, among other pressing sector-related issues.
Yesterday, during his first press conference in over a month, Harmon was reminded that it had been three months since he had first committed to hosting the special press engagement. Against this, Kaieteur News pressed the Opposition Leader about when this conference would be held, or whether it would be held at all.
In response, the Opposition Leader skirted around giving a direct answer, after which he indicated that he had been contacted by Kaieteur Radio for the A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) to sit in on a December 31 Kaieteur Radio programme. This programme, Harmon said, is aimed at discussing the future of oil and gas in Guyana.
“We have agreed to sit on that forum and we will speak on the matter at that time. Beyond that, I will not have anything further to say,” Harmon said to this publication yesterday.
Notably, when Kaieteur News reached out to Kaieteur Radio to find out whether any member of the APNU+AFC would be attending the said programme, representatives responded in the negative. “We had reached out to the coalition, requesting them attend the end-of-year programme, but they never confirmed their attendance,” a representative from Kaieteur Radio indicated.
Harmon made his first promise of the special oil and gas press conference on October 2. This was in the wake of Kaieteur News having, for weeks on end, produced articles on the shoddy awards of the two lucrative assets, the Kaieteur and Canje Oil Blocks that were signed away by the Donald Ramotar administration under questionable circumstances.
For the entirety of the coalition’s term in government, Harmon had played a key figure at the helm of the Ministry of the Presidency (MotP). He was Minister of State, then Director-General and throughout that period, the Ministry of Natural Resources fell under the Presidency, giving him oversight over the sector.
Yet, later, on October 20, Harmon had told Kaieteur News that he was relying on this publication’s information to take action on the Kaieteur/ Canje Oil Blocks giveaway.
A month after that, on November 20, at another press conference, Kaieteur News had posed questions to Harmon about the award of the blocks. He had avoided giving a direct answer and indicated that information would be shared at the special press conference.
Notably, when David Patterson, Opposition Shadow Minister for Oil and Gas, was asked on November 28 about Harmon’s press conference commitment and whether he was aware of the intended conference, Mr. Patterson responded, “I have read about it, but unfortunately, I have not engaged the Leader of the Opposition so obviously, I would not comment on that.”
Patterson had then added, “But obviously, if the Leader of the Opposition…maybe will hold the press conference when it is convenient.”
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