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Feb 27, 2022 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

Encouraging Events, Disturbing Developments…

By GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – It has to be disturbing to all Guyanese that both Exxon and Guyanese leaders continue to play footsie with prioritising full coverage insurance in the event of a disastrous oil spill. This was what one of the newer civic groups, well named as “A Fair Deal for Guyana; a Fair Deal for the Planet” made the centerpiece of their fight to get more protection and a better deal for Guyana. I agree with the group and support its members in what I see as a necessary struggle to give the peace of mind of much-needed protections. I salute them for their courage and public outspokenness before a stubborn and vindictive PPP/C Government. They understand the risks, I know them firsthand.
It was troubling to me that the Hon. Vice President who could talk the ears off of a bat, if he could catch one, did not lift a finger when the splendid opportunity of the International Oil Conference was in full sway at the Marriott, and he was one of Guyana’s key presenters. The Vice President was more focused on the risks of the investments of those who come here to explore for oil, than he was for the potential risks that could become devastating and a haunting reality in the instance of a catastrophic oil spill from Exxon’s offshore operations.
I describe as devastating because the damage could be untold and reach far from our shores severely impacting neighbours. All the oil money calculations – now, later, and using favourable pricing scenarios – regarding income to us would not be enough to help us handle our own damage plus that of neighbours. We are not talking merely of local coastline damage, which would be bad enough, but of the massive disruptions to an entire way of life in the tourist-oriented countries close to us. These could be existential, and the fears are healthy and real, not products of fevered imagination. It is regrettable, and inexplicable, that the Vice President, a leader known for his in-the-face aggressiveness in the domestic arena, could withdraw so humbly and whimperingly before Exxon and company at the conference. As I see it, when the Vice President had a golden opening to strike by taking the fight to Exxon before an international audience, he let the moment dribble through his hands like sand. This could come back to haunt, because should a real cataclysmic oil spill occur, it would not be over and done with in one generation. That is, the accumulated liabilities highly likely to be awarded against Guyana would extend over many lifetimes in several generations. The result is that all the rich promises of oil would have vanished in smoke, with huge generational debt overhangs left as its costly legacy.
The US$2B that the Vice President is waiting on hopefully, like some pathetic on-the-knees supplicant, through some mystery “acknowledgement” from Exxon America might sound like a heap of money to many Guyanese. It would not amount to much in the context of an oil spill of immense proportions that spreads beyond our borders. Further, to depend on the compassion of Exxon in times of oil spill destructions is to ignore the lessons of the company’s past when it was faced with oil crises. Exxon leaders have not hesitated to use the fullest range of legal maneuvers and tactics to get the best of its opponents. On most occasions, the company has outlasted pursuers, and outwitted them every step of the way. The final result has been that what started as impressive financial awards from lower courts against the company have been whittled down and weakened by leading jurists at higher levels in the judicial system to such a point that they become the emptiness of pyrrhic victories for the winners.
Guyana can barely hold its head above water when facing the big boys, which was confirmed first by the coalition with this horrendous oil deal, then by the PPP/C Government last week during the oil conference. Local leaders were reduced to lip-syncing Exxon’s songs and glad-handing and chaperoning for the cameras. If that was all they were good for on their home turf, they would surely be out of depth elsewhere.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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