‘Politicians are experts at hypocrisy’- Transparency Guyana President

Apr 09, 2023 News

---

…as Head of State calls citizens hypocrites for demanding better management of oil sector

Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali during an event last month said “hypocrites” is the ideal term to describe those attempting to poison and stop the blooming petroleum sector in the country.

He was particularly referring to those citizens who wrote to Regional bodies to warn them of the dangers associated with the local activities as well as the citizens that have so far filed legal proceedings, challenging ExxonMobil’s operations in the Stabroek Block.

President of the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. (TIGI), Frederick Collins however believes that it is the politicians who are experts at “hypocrisy”. During a protest outside the Office of the President on Wednesday, head of the transparency body told this publication, “Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo should know what is hypocrisy. He said when he was in Opposition that he was going to renegotiate the (Exxon) contract and then he switched it around. I think he should be an expert at hypocrisy.”

Collins explained that he did not bother to delve into the provisions of the new Deep Water and Shallow Water Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs), however TIGI believes that the existing agreement has “fundamental” wrongs which ought to be corrected.

“Government’s actions speak for themselves in terms of what is required. Mr. Jagdeo and all the people who criticize civil society should (know) that the people who have sense in this country can see through all their antics.”

The President of the transparency institute said it is now evident that the politicians are not inclined to answer questions relating to the management of the sector and has therefore developed a new posture to evade questions through insults. As such he said, “Those antics can fool the idiots, they cannot fool the rest of us. There is a critical mass of intelligence in Guyana, they cannot fool us; they think they are fooling us (but) they are fooling themselves and they are fooling the ones who want to be fooled.”

It was during the sod turning in Berbice for the new Palymra Stadium that the President addressed members of civil society, who he is convinced have “ulterior motives.”

He said: “It’s not easy dealing with those who want to sap our energy in negativity. It is not easy trying to deliver them from their ignorance especially when they are deliberately ignorant because they have an ulterior motive. If you have a political ambition, announce it, and come in the political arena. Don’t hide under different faces. You must be honest to tell the people what your true intentions are.”

The President said the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and his government believe in this principle and have outlined its intentions clearly in its Manifesto. “We stated how we are gonna bring back agriculture, how we gonna save the farmers and every single one of our commitments, we have stayed true to every single one of our commitments we have delivered to you. We are not con artists,” he noted.

He went on to tell thousands gathered at the event, “Make no mistake, this is not a government of con artists but I know many of them out there who disguise themselves in all kinds of ways-environmentalists, biologist, propagandist, all forms they come in. Very important point, imagine someone calling themselves a patriot and going to a court to stop you from the revenue that belongs to you the people of Guyana in the oil and gas sector.”

President Ali said Guyanese have even gone as far to write the country’s neighbours to say they must stop Guyana from producing its oil, due to the potential dangers of an oil spill. The President argued however that these same neighbouring states have developed their petroleum sector for 100 years.

He therefore said, “They call themselves patriots and lovers of our country. They are nothing short of being hypocrites! Nothing short of being hypocrites and let me be very clear, there is no government in this region who has the environmental credentials as this government.”

The President said the PPP came back to office in 2020 after leaving a Low carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) which was abandoned by the former administration. He was keen to share with the Berbice crowd that this Programme is now earning the country revenue for its forests.

No insurance

But while Guyana has earned its title as a carbon sink, meaning it takes out more carbon dioxide than it produces, the oil sector has been moving at a rapid pace in the absence of full liability coverage, thereby exposing not only Guyana, but the Caribbean Region to grave risks. Presently, approximately 400,000 barrels per day is being produced offshore in the Stabroek Block at the Liza One and Two fields. A third project, Payara, will also startup this year, adding another 220,000 barrels per day.

Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), the operator of the Stabroek Block has committed US$600 million in insurance for each project it develops. This however has been deemed a meagre amount considering the losses experienced by other oil producing states when a spill occurred.

To this end, the parent company ExxonMobil is required to supply a parent company guarantee in accordance with the Permit it received from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). After more than three years, this provision is yet to be adhered to. It is intended to subject the parent company to cover any expenses above the capped insurance policy.  This newspaper has reported that ExxonMobil had beat down a US$5 billion Court judgment for fishermen to US$507 million following a 50-million-barrel oil spill 1989 in Alaska, United States.

In February, members of a civil society group wrote to Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister (PM), Dr. Keith Rowley, putting him on guard about the potential oil spill dangers of Guyana’s offshore projects. The letter which was signed by Alfred Bhulai, Andre Brandli, Janette Bulkan, Darshanand Khusial, Mike Persaud, and Charles Sugrim—all of whom are members of the Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN)—was issued on February 8, 2023 to the PM’s office.

The OGGN members were keen to note that they are concerned citizens of Guyana and inhabitants of the Caribbean. They stressed that Guyana’s oil reserves, totalling some 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources in the Stabroek Block, underpin grave oil spill concerns for Caribbean citizens.

What is also troubling for them is that ExxonMobil Corporation, through its subsidiary, EEPGL, currently plans to drill 158 wells in six oil fields by 2030 in the southeast corner of the Stabroek tract alone.

---

• Hypocrites, oil, President Ali, President of the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. Frederick Colins, TIGI

---