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T&T is a treasure trove of lessons for Guyana on how to navigate oil sector pitfalls – UWI Lecturer
By Kiana Wilburg
Kaieteur News – While it is commendable that Guyana is committed to reducing its carbon footprint via a suite of renewable energy projects complemented by the imminent gas-to-shore power plant; and it has even created a Natural Resource Fund into which regular deposits are made, that alone will not be its saving grace against the Dutch Disease.
It will require Guyana to demonstrate great vision, discipline and clear communication via government says Dr. Graham King, Lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of the West Indies (UWI). In his effort to explain the tightrope Guyana must walk, Dr. King referenced his homeland, Trinidad and Tobago as a case study. He noted that the founding CARICOM member did a few things well with her oil and gas resources, much like what Guyana is doing at the moment, but still, T&T got caught in the tentacles of the Dutch disease—a phenomenon that sees the rapid development of one sector and the decline of others.
Dr. Graham King, Lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of the West Indies (UWI)
Outlining some of the positives of the T&T oil experience, Dr. King shared that the country was an early mover on new energy opportunities. In this respect, he explained that in the mid-1970s, consultation and focused dialogue led to the establishment of priority use areas for previously-flared natural gas. The UWI Lecturer shared that Trinidad latched onto a growing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market and eventually had the largest LNG plant in the world at the time when there had been no other successful developments in the Atlantic basin.
Other positives he highlighted included the fact that Trinidad created functional collaborations between nationally owned companies, multinational operators, locally-owned private sector companies and private shareholders. He shared as well that as early as the 1950s, natural gas was identified as useful for electricity production.
Additionally, the T&T lecturer noted that his country made significant investments in education which included free local tertiary education, complemented by a generous system of scholarships for international study. He said too that specialist programmes such as the Petroleum Geoscience programme at the University of the West Indies provided technically qualified, local leaders in the energy sector.
Even with the foregoing, and other notable achievements, Dr. King said T&T still managed to drop the ball on a number of other key issues. In this regard, he said it failed to modernise its national systems.
Expounding further he said, “Over the years of success in establishing itself as a world-class energy player, two worlds have emerged in Trinidad and Tobago. In one we find the professionalism and efficiency of the energy sector, while in… well, pretty much all other parts of society, low productivity and a poor work ethic abound. For instance, despite the declared intentions by politicians of all shades, the public service has not been reformed and remains overstaffed and generally unresponsive to changing needs.”
Dr. King said too that roads are highly congested and public transport is unreliable with a limited network. “The education system also gets a failing grade when it comes to producing critical thinkers who can innovate,” he added.
Importantly, the lecturer pointed out that sluggishness in waking up to the potential benefits of renewable energy to a fossil-fuel based economy and regulatory hurdles prevent the uptake of something as simple as distributed solar.
Dr. King also noted that slowness to modernise has adversely affected the ease of doing business. In fact, Trinidad & Tobago is currently ranks 105 in the world when it comes to the ease of doing business which has ultimately hampered the competitiveness of non-energy sectors in the country. Along with overreliance on transfers and subsidies for wealth distribution, Dr. King said T&T failed to engender sustained investment in research and development.
In conclusion, Dr. King noted that T&T’s efforts to become a leader in the oil and gas industry left efforts for economic diversification on the back burner thereby putting the future economic development of the country at risk.
Taking T&T’s experience into consideration, he posited that Guyana would be wise to remain vigilant and operate with a sense of direction, great discipline and clear communication if it is to emerge unscathed by the debilitating effects of the Dutch disease.
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