PPP/C never considered oil contract renegotiation despite campaign promise - Norris Witter

PPP/C never considered oil contract renegotiation despite campaign promise – Norris Witter

Apr 11, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The Peoples’ Progressive Party Civil (PPP/C), while in opposition had highlighted to the nation that everything would be up for review and renegotiation when questions were asked about the burdensome Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) that was signed between the last government and oil operators working here. Today, it appears as if now in government, the administration has not even considered reengaging the foreign partners, let alone seek an audience on renegotiations.

The GWU has also been calling for the renegotiation of the 2016 PSA during their protest for increased minimum wage.

If that is not the case, and the PPP/C would have sought to reengage oil operators, then this must be communicated to the public, President of the General Workers’ Union, Norris Witter believes. He was at the time protesting with union members outside of Parliament Building for the increase of workers’ minimum wage when he told the newspaper that after campaigning in favour of renegotiating the current PSA, the PPP/C must now tell the public what steps have been taken in that direction.
Witter said that in not renegotiating the oil contract, senior members of the government have reiterated that contracts are sacrosanct and should not be disturbed willy-nilly. Witter stated however, that if the PPP/C were aware of contract sanctities before taking up office, why then did they promise the nation that they would renegotiate the oil contract once back in government.
“What that highlights in the eyes of the world, is the dishonesty of this government,” Witter stated. He said, “as far as I am aware there is no contract that is cast in stone.” “The question,” he said, “is whether the government has taken any steps to re-open negotiations on the contract.” The union leader said that if the government had taken such a step and they were rebuffed by the oil companies, one could understand that, “but why is it that they have not even indicated an intention to engage,” Witter questioned. He highlighted that given Guyana’s limited oil and gas management capacity, and being even more certain as to what the offshore riches look like, one would have thought that a suspension would have been placed on future projects until existing flaws were rectified.
Witter believes however that given the history of political leaders, citizens must now ask themselves whether the leaders are deliberately leaving Guyana exposed to financial abuse. Given the lax attitude, Witter said, “It would be fair to surmise that they (leaders) would be happy over this lack of skills and happy to speak about this lack of skills to create a cover for the continued pilferage of our resources.”
Witter suggested that the view of the average citizens already is that political leaders have had their hands in the cookie jar, and now, with oil, the intention is to exploit the nation to the fullest. Witter pointed to how quickly the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Bill was pushed through Parliament despite calls urging for more consultations. And no sooner the bill was passed, he continued, it was assented to and the funds raided despite the NRF board not being in place as legally required.
The matter of renegotiating the 2016 PSA has become of public concern since realizing how much the country stands to lose from unfavourable provisions in the sharing agreement. The current government seems to have ditched the idea while only recently, incoming opposition leader Aubrey Norton, refused to say definitively whether he was in support of renegotiating the PSA. Norton instead claimed to want more benefits out of the PSA for citizens, but stayed away from using the word renegotiation.
The Alliance for Change’s (AFC) Shadow Natural Resources and Oil and Gas Minister, David Patterson in a surprising statement during budget debates in February registered his party’s support to the government in seeking to renegotiate the current PSA. There has not been a response to Patterson’s submission from the government.