Renegotiation

Jun 14, 2024 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Regardless of whether Guyanese politicians like it or denounce it, we have a duty to keep beating the renegotiation oil drum loudly. Renegotiation of the deformed and monstrous 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (oil contract) is the patriotic duty of every Guyanese to keep the fires burning for renegotiation of this national barbarism. It was Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo who said at the recent PPP Congress that the time for isms to go has come.

He must make good on his stand and extend it to this barbarism that is the 2016 ExxonMobil oil contract and be rid of that too. In fact, every Guyanese of honesty and principle should not want this oil contract to remain in force as it is and push their leaders to renegotiate it. Renegotiation is more than about the PPP/C Government or the PNCR and AFC Opposition combined. Renegotiation is about what is good, what is best for all Guyanese. Whenever Guyanese allow themselves to be tricked into the trap of viewing ExxonMobil’s 2016 oil contract as a PPP/C or PNCR issue alone, then all they do is engage in the most shameful form of cowardly self-defeat.

The ExxonMobil self-enriching 2016 oil contract must be renegotiated, regardless of the sacrifices that must be made. It is either that Guyanese gear their minds to that demand that is called for or they resign themselves to another 40 years of slavery. In the narrowest view that is this generation and the next two (at least) forced to live like donkeys and horses under the saddle of companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron. If the latter succeeds in winning its Hess Corporation buyout battles, it will be the newest ruthless exploiter arriving here to grab its own pound of flesh from our oil. Men like Michael Wirth and Alistair Routledge and Darren Woods will ride Guyanese to their deaths. Economic starvation caused by this contract leads to death of the spirit. They will throw some oil oats (charity money on local projects) to keep naïve Guyanese quiet, even buyout a few greedy Guyanese to their side to peddle their deceptions, put a nice sheen to their corporate ravages.

Only renegotiation of the ExxonMobil oil contract can be what is fair and right for the Guyanese people. Nothing but renegotiation of this company monstrosity could suffice to cure Guyana of what has now risen to the level of a national disease. Renegotiation! Renegotiation! Renegotiation is what should be in the hearts and on the lips of every Guyanese who fully appreciate the wealth that they have, and what is their rightful due from it. There must be no more pussyfooting around this issue, or seeing eye to eye with leaders who are fearful of mentioning the word renegotiation. They are for renegotiation of the contract with mind and body, or they are not fit to be holding any office in this country. If President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo cannot make up their minds about renegotiation, then Guyanese must help them to do so. If Opposition Leaders Norton and Ramjattan are too timid or hesitant to back renegotiation, all Guyanese must lean on them and push them in that direction.

The trade unions have their role to play in renegotiation, and this has neither government backed, nor opposition backed unions. All of them have a stake in renegotiation. If they genuinely want more for their members, then a full and fair renegotiation of the oil contract is a must, years past addressing. The religious organisations have a responsibility to their flocks, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet, to lend their voices to the cry for renegotiation. What could be a more righteous cause than renegotiation, so that the poor can feed themselves, and the sick can look after their ailments. Though other segments in local civil society have been silent, taking a careful seat out of sight, they also have a part in the fight for renegotiation. This is a national fight that demands a national commitment from all Guyanese. Guyanese do so and they stand a chance to upturn the vile ExxonMobil oil contract. They shrink from doing so, and they condemn themselves to multigenerational slavery.