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US$2B guarantee circus

Feb 04, 2024 Editorial

Kaieteur News – When we consider the pieces that are known so far, the US$2B parent company guarantee should there be a calamitous oil spill at ExxonMobil’s offshore operations, has long gone past the ingredients of a clown show. Even to call it a comedy special, compliments of the PPPC Government, would be an insult to honest, hardworking comedians.

The ups and downs, smoke and shadows surrounding this US$2B ExxonMobil (USA) guarantee now qualify to be a raucous circus.  The donkeys are braying, the sheep bleating, and it is an out-of-control Animal Farm that Guyanese are witnessing.  We will never think of, or compare, members of the PPPC Government to animals.  In truth, the temptation is never far from overtaking, and has to be fought constantly.

It must be a concern for all Guyanese that what should be the simplest of undertakings has become so convoluted, made to be so unbelievably complicated.  What the government is doing to Guyanese is the equivalent of one of those ancient doctors telling an anxious patient that he or she cannot see their test results, or the sum of their medical records.  Is this not what has happened with the production of the proof of the US$2B parent guarantee, in that it cannot be seen by citizens?

As Guyanese get to know more about what a massive oil spill could potentially represent for them and their children, their livelihoods and way of life, they need the comfort of that document that proves ExxonMobil has done everything to obtain the guarantee, as negligible as it is.  That is, if in fact ExxonMobil decision makers in Texas have made such a decision, made concrete moves to have the coverage signed and sealed, with only delivery to local people missing.

Given the resourceful and adaptable positions of the attorney for Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the silence and disappearance of the EPA itself on this parent guarantee issue, Guyanese are in a bind.  They stand naked in the wind, just don’t tell that to any PPPC Government operative.  One opposition Member of Parliament called on the attorney to apologize.  We beg to differ, as we think that the better development would be for him to migrate, as this would spare the nation the spectacle of crocodile tears.  Guyanese are better off without a learned citizen who has faltered in the basic duty of doing right by the people, one who is responsible for where the government is.  Under his lead this guarantee has turned out to be nothing but a fiasco, with a farce now confirmed.

There is a slightly tougher sentiment in the case of the EPA: the EPA, in all that it incorporates as a vital and pivotal national institution, should be wrapped in a tarpaulin shroud, secured in chains, and gently eased overboard in the deepest water.  It causes us some uneasiness to assert such, but the EPA has long lost any credibility that it is an agency always standing tall and firm for the Guyanese people.

Our position is closer to that of another opposition member: the guarantee is either not in place or fails to meet any eye test or smell test.  ExxonMobil is the company that the Government of Guyana likes to call a partner.  We ask the Guyanese people, the ones to feel any injury if an oil spill occurs: when ExxonMobil engages in these dodges, gets the Guyana Government to play these tricky games on its behalf, is it still realistic (and honest) to view it as a partner?  Or, as is coming to light with developments like the US$2B guarantee, is ExxonMobil nothing but a ravenous, largescale predator?  Proof of the guarantee (binding policy), when it is not forthcoming from ExxonMobil, exposes Guyanese to potentially untold dangers, unimaginable liabilities.

Yet the PPPC Government, with President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo in the forefront, continues to insist, and to hold, ExxonMobil as the best friend that Guyanese could possibly have.  If ExxonMobil is the only friend (partner) that Guyanese can have, our preference is to take our chances with the devil.  The air is cleaner, the lines are straighter, in dealing with the wicked one.  It is not so with ExxonMobil.

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