No oil sector regulator

May 22, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The failure of political leaders to have in place an oil sector regulator is more than shameless, it stands as a leadership obscenity, almost a premeditated crime. The fact is that “Seven years later: Guyana has no independent oil sector regulator – Opposition mulls re-tabling old Petroleum Commission Bill – as PPP/Government continues pussyfooting around issue” (KN May 16). By any consideration, this flies in the face of commonsense and, given what has happened in other oil-related areas, it is a slap in the face of all Guyanese.
Not to have an independent regulator standing guard over this nation’s oil sector reveals so much about what is wrong with how this country goes about handling important elements of this wealth. Not to have such a regulator for a year may be understandable, but to be without one for seven years, and given all the suspicions alongside the hopes of citizens, is inexcusable, almost a sin. To be without an independent oil regulator for such an extended period, but to have a legal mechanism regarding how to spend money from the nation’s oil fund already firmly in place proves what leaders in this PPP/C Government are all about, what are their ambitions.
PPP/C Government leaders desire with a passion to be as near to the oil money as possible, and under the camouflages that they put in motion in the law on how to access it, and spend it. This means more skullduggeries and shenanigans operating under a legal umbrella that they made sure to prioritise, so that the oil monies can be drained away with massive con games built around what is called financing “national development priorities.” We ask that all Guyanese, no matter how politically loyal they may be, to remember these words and positions of ours that are placed in the public domain. Sooner than later, time will provide the proof on how much on the money we were and are.
It is why the leaders of this government have no time, can spare no energy, to do what is right by Guyana. An independent oil sector regulator would be the much-needed, much delayed, product of “an updated legislative and regulatory framework that is essential for the protection of the oil industry against mismanagement and corruption” (KN May 16). From such an enhanced framework would flow the Petroleum Commission Bill, which prepares the ground for this independent oil sector regulator to be vigilant in its “responsibility for monitoring and enforcing Guyana’s modernised petroleum laws, policies and oil agreements. The body is also intended to ensure oil companies comply with health, safety and environmental standards.” This was tabled originally by the then APNU+AFC Coalition, just over five years ago. Yet we have no such thing at all, but we do have a law on how to access and spend the oil fund monies, which already has been put into action.
The President himself said in his inauguration that he is for such an independent body, but almost two years later, it remains one more commitment on which he has walked back. In fact, the man in charge of Guyana’s oil industry (the Vice President), and the man with general responsibilities for the broader resource portfolio (the Minister of Natural Resources) have both come out strongly for such an independent group. Both are on record that it is needed to watch over this sector that holds so much of the nation’s future in its grasp, and for it to keep political interference at bay.
Their public words and postures about an independent oil regulator have proven to be empty, lacking in supporting substance, and doubtful as to either their seriousness or sincerity. Nothing is new in this regard, which is why this country languishes in having onboard this protection that both the PPP/C Government and the Coalition Opposition say and claim we must have. As is now the political and leadership culture in Guyana, words are plentiful, and they are cheap. They are uttered by politicians who cheapen themselves further, and menace the prospects of Guyanese, the longer they delay and drag their foot in making an independent oil sector regulator a reality. Why this is such a problem is a mystery.