A contract is a contract

Jun 17, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

As a person initially on the side of getting Exxon to renegotiate for a better oil contract, the bottom line is that signed contracts are legally binding documents. Again, they are legally binding. We can’t just have contracts changed because they are totally in favour of one side. I would bet that the Exxon team that negotiated the one sided oil deal, all got bonuses for what they were able to get out of Guyana. The oil companies brought the brightest who are well versed in negotiation tactics. It’s done all the time in developing countries. The white man is ruthless when it comes to business deals. They aim to win, and at all costs, especially if they know the opposing side is weak. Guyana obviously was represented by someone and other individuals who were easily duped, and truly ignorant on how business is conducted by international conglomerates. Totally clueless. Should Exxon be blamed for rolling over Guyana, with their oil deals; because the Guyanese representation was totally unprepared?
That is a fair question to ask. We should also be concerned with the many international deals currently being signed. We don’t exactly have a professional habit of reading through the fine details of complex contracts until 03:00a.m, like the international businessmen; and I would bet that most of the ministerial heads – DO NOT have the seasoned staff that are up until the early hours in the morning making sure that international signed contracts are in the countries favour. Guyana’s public service is lacking these kinds of personnel, besides they seem to prefer posing for pictures in the papers, with contracts in hand. Somehow, I doubt there are seasoned international advisors either. Maybe that is why so many contracts are secret. We obviously still have a lot to learn on the global stage.
Picketing on the road in Guyana for a better oil contract gets little traction with the likes of Exxon. If we need Exxon to budge on their contract (maybe), then the terms of the contract need to be in the International News print, so the world can see how bad it is for this country. American companies, no matter how small, hate bad publicity, and tend to react when they are viewed negatively in the news. Someone has to write an article about the contract in the international news media, to bring attention to it. But then again, as bad as the contract is, we should be prepared to answer this question: Whose fault is it, that Exxon and the other oil companies have gotten the very best from these signed deals, when the game is to play to win and that Guyana was represented by a “team” that was hopelessly incompetent?

Chi Kansi

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