The mother of all ministers

Aug 15, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – It was always known that there are ministers, then there are ministers. There are senior ones, then ministers with more prestige offices, like Foreign Affairs, or the individual overseeing the treasury, sensitive finances. Now in Guyana, there is the super minister, who under the law of the land, places responsibility and complete authority in his or her hands, one who will stand supreme over the nation’s massive oil wealth.

No Guyanese should be fooled into complacency by what is nothing less than a sham of an arrangement, and all under the umbrella of the law. As things stand in Guyana today, it is clear that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has come up with another triumph of resourceful scheming, and clever manipulation. From all appearances, the super minister, this mother of all ministers, would only be a front, a puppet, with the forever plotting Vice President Jagdeo being the master puppeteer pulling that minister’s strings, twisting his arm, and tying up into knots, to obey his dictates.

As evidence, we point to the pre-Petroleum Activities Act territory, and shine the spotlight on the incumbent Minister of Natural Resources, Mr. Vickram Bharat. With respect, Minister Bharat has negligible powers, has been reduced to a shadow, one without a voice, and someone without standing, and this is with regards to his own portfolio. He hardly has much to say about gold or timber, he is present, but is there only as a placeholder. On the national patrimony, this oil and gas sector, and its much-disputed stewardship, Minister Bharat is clearly a man who is placed where he is for a purpose or two.

One is to pickup slack and issues that Jagdeo feels are below his time, interest. Another could be issues that Jagdeo wishes to hide from, so he passes those like a hot potato to Minister Bharat, while knowing full well that he is limited (or ill-equipped) in addressing with depth and comprehensiveness. To put another way, the Minister of Natural Resources has now been reduced to a meaningless and helpless pawn in the range of Jagdeo’s machinations, and his continuing ambitions.

In this Petroleum Activities Act, the incomparable and untouchable powers vested in the subject minister provide confirmations, as to who will be having the final say, and leading the way on how things are going to be in the oil sector. This is not surprising for it is where all the money is, and Guyanese need no introduction to Jagdeo’s history with money. Sugar is, perhaps, the best example of his chronic failures, his paltry levels of credibility, and how he has slickly covered himself and removed himself from the picture. Under this Act, the minister is a one-man show, an unchallengeable power all by himself. The warning bells should be alerting every citizen about possible pending mischief with oil blocks and royalties that could be executed under the law. In essence, Jagdeo would never relinquish that degree of power to anyone in the PPP/C Government.

Further, the PPP/C Government has repeatedly acknowledged the paucity of skills and the long learning curve that now exists since the discovery of oil. Leaders have openly admitted that Guyana is severely deficient in what is required to oversee comprehensively this ballooning oil industry. Yet, there is this incredible development, through the Petroleum Activities Act, where so much is vested in the hands of one minister. Whatever the minister decides, or signs, has unbreakable seals. We do not have the level of knowledge, nor is there the kind of lengthy track record of hands-on involvement, through trial and error, that infuses confidence in what any single person in Guyana could deliver.

It could be asserted, and we do, that Jagdeo, as wily a political operator as he is, still is light years away from being the expert figure that he slyly attaches to himself with this oil patrimony. The PPP/C Government was clever enough to get rid of Dr. Vincent Adams, the one Guyanese, who had the broad expertise to provide powerful guidance on how to shepherd this wealth to get the most out of it. Now the way has been paved for more oil grabs, and with the full force of law.

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Editorial, Foreign Affairs, Guyana, Ministers, triumph

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