Govt.’s absence at major oil conference a national embarrassment – KN Publisher Glenn Lall

Oct 08, 2022 News

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By Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – “When an oil conference is held in any country around the world, we see Government officials turn up to these events, ready and willing to learn from the experience of others. We expected to see the same thing in Guyana, given that we are still a newcomer in this business, but instead of our leaders showing up eager to learn something new no one bothered to participate.”

This is the view of the Kaieteur News Publisher, Mr. Glenn Lall. During one of his most recent radio programmes aired on Kaieteur Radio (99.1 and 99.5 FM), Lall said Government’s absence from the seminar was “an absolute embarrassment to the people of this country.”

He was at the time referring to a three-day Guyana Basins Summit (GBS) and Expo hosted by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) at the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre, in Georgetown. The event was hosted between October 4 and 6, last, under the theme, ‘Responsibly Developing the Region’s Resources for a Prosperous and Sustainable Future’.  It was geared at forging partnerships between Guyanese and foreign investors.

Lall pointed out during his programme that all of the officials responsible for the management of the petroleum sector, including President Irfaan Ali, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat and Head of the Gas-to-Energy project, Winston Brassington, did not “have the decency to show their faces.”

The businessman told viewers and listeners of the programme, “Just imagine we had a number of oil and gas experts who came into this country for this forum and gave advice and none of our Government officials were present.”

It was reported that Brassington was slated to be part of a discussion on the US$2 billion gas-to-energy project that included a question and answer segment on day two of the conference. He was expected to be the lone local representative on that panel however, the investors who came to Guyana for the seminar were forced to speak to other foreigners in his absence.

To this end, Lall underscored that the “audience who had questions for him had to go back home clueless, just like the rest of Guyana.”

During the Guyana Basins Summit, key industry stakeholders participated in the event to give the country advice on the management of its oil and gas sector.

Some of the points reported by this publication were recommendations on oil spill preparation between the region and the importance of Guyana’s Indigenous communities benefitting from the oil and gas resources.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, Iman Hill said at the conference that taking into consideration, Guyana and Suriname’s geographical proximity, as well as their acceleration of offshore oil exploration and production operations, mutual agreements on safety must be seen as crucial for the respective administrators.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) Chief of Operations and Guyana Country Representative, Lorena Salazar also offered the country some counsel, coming from Ecuador, another oil producing state.

Salazar urged that the revenue stream from the burgeoning sector must not stagnate on the coasts, but must trickle down to Hinterland communities in Guyana to ensure equitable development in the country.  The IDB Country representative argued that the opportunities should not only be extended to the education and health sectors, but also in the areas of communication and access among others.

Salazar said that the future of the country is its people, hence measures should also be taken to explore the skills needed that may not have been taught in school.

It must be noted however that Vice President Jagdeo has told Guyanese that the oil money collected each year for the two oil projects is merely enough to complete two projects for Guyana.

The VP was speaking to an audience in Berbice about two weeks ago when he complained that the money received from the sector is “not a whole lot.”

He went on to tell the people that the country collected about US$350 million per year so far for the first two years but the new Demerara Harbour Bridge alone will cost them US$260 million. He also told them that government wants to build a world-class Children and Maternal Hospital which will cost another US$170 million. That alone is one year oil money, the VP said, as he pointed out there are still more highways to be built on the East Bank of Demerara.

Notably, the projects he listed are all geographically placed on the coasts, with no major plans announced for the Indigenous communities.

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