Latest update December 23rd, 2024 3:40 AM
Jagdeo-led oil team did not snub Surinamese counterparts
…being at Exxon-sponsored conference a coincidence—Ali
Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, (with ceremonial scissors in hand) with the Guyana delegation in Texas.
Kaieteur News – Head of State, Irfaan Ali, has denied that Guyana’s key oil figures snubbed a meeting with Surinamese counterparts currently in Guyana for high-level talks, led by that country’s President, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, calling the situation a coincidence.
The Guyanese President was asked to weigh in on the observation yesterday by a Surinamese journalist accompanying the Surinamese delegation to Guyana during a joint press engagement at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).Weighing in on the observation, President Ali told journalists at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), “…when you are in government you have many competing demands, when you are in government you don’t deal with a single task in a single day.”
As such, President Ali was adamant “don’t for a moment believe that for us; this is the only task we are dealing with strategically.”
Referencing the State visit by his Surinamese counterpart, he said this does not diminish the need for continuous engagements.
With regard to the current meetings, President Ali told those in attendance “this strategic dialogue has always been at the level of the President and the Cabinet, so it’s just a matter of coincidence that the Houston conference was at the same time with this visit.”
According to Ali, the fact that the key Guyanese oil figures are in fact at an ExxonMobil sponsored conference in Texas, USA, “does not diminish from anything we are doing here.”
Speaking to the glaring absence of the Guyanese oil sector leaders, as observed by the Surinamese journalist, President Ali instead dismissed the assertion as an invented nuance saying, “there is nothing to this.”
The Head of State said, “our objective is to move forward to deliberate on key issues and to make key decisions; that, is exactly what we are doing.”
Referencing the team being led by Jagdeo in Texas presently Ali told those at the ACCC, “the Vice President who is leading a delegation to Houston, will be in Suriname to work with his counterparts on issues of the environment.”
As such, he sought to assure that the talks held between the Guyanese and Surinamese in recent days was held “with the greatest level of seriousness, the greatest level of attention and the greatest level of respect has been paid to this visit and to the outcome of this visit.”
According to President Ali, “for us it is never about personalities and it can never be about personalities, it has to be about the interest of the people and that is the purpose of the strategic dialogue.”
Accompanying the Surinamese President to Guyana is that country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Co-operation, Ambassador Albert Ramdin.
For Guyana’s part, it’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Hugh Todd, is in Texas. President Santokhi has also walked with his Minister of Natural Resources, David Abiamofo, for the high-level talks in Guyana but the Guyanese counterpart, Minister Vickram Bharrat, is also in Texas, USA.
The Guyana delegation in Texas is being led by Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo —the man ultimately in charge of the domestic oil industry—and is joined by other key domestic players including Winston Brassington, the head of the Gas-to-Shore Working Committee; key petroleum advisor, Bobby Gossai Jnr and Guyana Office for Investment’s (GO-Invest) Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop, among others.
The Guyana delegation also includes key private sector umbrella body representatives and business groups while representatives of Suriname’s national oil company, Staatsolie, and members from the Surinamese private sector are in Guyana for the high-level talks.
Others from the Guyana delegation in Texas include representatives from AmCham, GCCI, PSC, GM&SA and private businesses GUYSONS-GKB, GAICO, Mid Atlantic Oil and Gas, GOGEC, GYSBI, GTT, ExxonMobil Guyana and Halliburton.
That conference is sponsored in part by ExxonMobil, which is headquartered in Texas, USA.
One official had told this publication that meetings of these nature (between Heads of State) do not just happen overnight and that they are planned ahead of time. As such, it can only be seen as a snub on the part of the Guyanese, in their dealings with the Surinamese delegation, since the key local figures are in Texas for the Exxon sponsored conference while their Surinamese counterparts are in Guyana to speak on the subject.
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