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Nigel Hughes promises to keep claws off oil sector
Newly elected leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes
…says will establish Petroleum Commission in 100 days if elected
Kaieteur News – Newly elected Alliance for Change (AFC) leader, Nigel Hughes on Friday promised to establish a Petroleum Commission within the first 100 days of being elected to serve as president. Hughes made the comment during his first press conference as leader of the AFC.
He criticized the Irfaan Ali led-administration for its failure to introduce a Petroleum Commission to oversee the nation’s burgeoning oil and gas sector.
“Within the first 100 days of being elected to office, I will establish the Petroleum Commission,” Hughes promised.
A Petroleum Commission would be an independent body which would hold responsibility for monitoring and enforcing Guyana’s petroleum laws, policies and oil agreements. The body is also intended to ensure oil companies comply with health, safety and environmental standards.
Hughes said, “The concentration of decision-making in the areas of natural resources, finance, and oil and gas in the hands of a single person is highly risky, dangerous, and leads to policy being made up on the trot, all of which is bad for business.”
The AFC leader underscored that oil and gas policies in Guyana must be from the considerations and deliberations of experts. He added, “The AFC intends to follow international best practice. In consideration of these matters, the party has appointed Dr. Vince Adams and Mr. David Patterson to head the Alliance for Change’s Oil & Gas Advisory Committee with full powers to invite highly skilled technical experts both locally and internationally onto the committee.”
In the meantime, Hughes highlighted that until the AFC attains office he will not have an input in or involvement with the AFC Oil & Gas Committee. He maintained that there is no conflict of interest between him being AFC leader and having ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) as a client of his law firm – Hughes, Fields & Stoby.
The AFC leader recently acknowledged that he is indeed a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), but noted that there is no law that prevents him from having the oil company as a client.
“In my capacity as leader of the Alliance for Change, I am not in a position to influence government policy, particularly as it relates to Exxon. I, however, may be in a position to influence AFC policy on oil and gas,” he said during Friday’s press conference.
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