Tarnished companies operating here

Oct 30, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The oil and gas business has more than its fair share of scoundrels. Senior company officers from different countries have been part of a long history of doing anything to get an unfair advantage over their competition. When it comes to bribing corrupt Government Officials in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, corporate captains will do what they to do to come out on top. In sum, the record of what is wrong, as done by some corporate officials, is long, and signals to host countries that such companies are not good to have around.

The Dutch oil services firm, SBM, has been here since 2015. We appreciate that it is part of the array of vendors that ExxonMobil has to engage to get vital aspects of its exploration and production work done at its offshore operations in Guyana. For starters, ExxonMobil has the first duty to do its due diligence on the entities that it partners with to get its work completed here. So, when a former CEO of SBM, and another Senior Executive of the Dutch firm could have been actually jailed for bribing foreign officials in 2018 (KN October 25), then this is the kind of company that should not be anywhere around here, and more specifically around our suspect oil business

ExxonMobil cannot claim to not know of the huge missteps of SBM, since it is not some tiny, fly by night company. Because we believe that ExxonMobil officials would have known, or should have, then it did not do right by the citizens of this country. The record of dismal failure by Government after Government in this country on the issue of chronic corruption, and the national concern about crooked Politicians, also could not have eluded ExxonMobil Seniors. So, to bring a company like SBM here and plunk it down on Guyanese is asking for trouble.

In fairness, the current company officials may be as clean as a whistle, but there is lingering taint that hangs over SBM that is not easy to dispel. If this has happened before, and at such very senior levels, then anywhere and anyone and anything could be criminally compromised with corresponding results. We cannot afford to make these kinds of mistakes, as a new, poor, corruption-riddled oil producing nation. We can’t take the risks of having such a company here, and ExxonMobil should have known that, for it also makes the American company look bad. The issue is why it does business with cheats.

Now SBM is already spreading its wings and on the move in the field of real estate, with the word being that it is preparing to setup a ‘gated community’. This could be the start of SBM activities in Guyana, which may mean that it has to deal with not just ExxonMobil, but a lot of local officials, as it sets its sights on other lucrative business opportunities. We think that, given SBM’s past record, it is not going too far in saying that similar things could play out here, with our own Guyanese Politicians and people playing the game well and selling out richly. Few, if any, Guyanese are going to turn down bribery overtures, let’s be honest with ourselves.

Separately, where are our own Governments, and what happened to the sense of responsibility and keenness of our elected and selected officials? The APNU+AFC Coalition had to at least run some check on these entities that form part of ExxonMobil’s work here, particularly those that establish a local presence. The PPP/C Government has the identical responsibility, if only to protect our own people from contamination by foreigners, who will do anything to close deals. We don’t think that this is asking too much, with the emphasis being on those companies that are based here. Who knows what they could and would dabble in, and drag Guyanese into their schemes for a price. If Guyana’s leaders are serious about clean governance, then there should be such due diligence protocols. Companies with a history must leave. We don’t want them here,we must not have them here. Let ExxonMobil go about its business arrangements (our business) with an eye to our concerns, and at a higher standard.

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