The chief policymaker

Jul 29, 2024 Editorial

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Kaieteur News – Two responses from Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo at his recent press conferences confirmed to us that he is the wrong man to be spearheading Guyana’s oil business.

Last week and the week before the former President was asked about the cost ExxonMobil is paying to lease the capping stack it brought into Guyana recently and how much it is paying to treat produced water at its operations offshore. No doubt in the absence of full coverage insurance the capping is some comfort to Guyanese. But what was astounding is that Jagdeo who is Guyana’s chief policymaker on oil and gas- a title which he guards jealously said he does not know the cost to lease the equipment. In fact, he went on further to make light of the question posed by this newspaper asking if he needs to know every expense being incurred by the oil company. Maybe the VP forgot or it is not important to him that Guyana’s oil profits have to pay to lease the capping stack. Not knowing the cost exposes this country to exploitation and we have seen this already with the findings from the oil audits. Exxon has shown that it can charge us for things unrelated to oil production.

A similar question was posed to him on how much Exxon is paying to treat the produced water from its oil production. Again Guyana’s chief policymaker on oil and gas said he does not know. But this time he doubled down with his nonsense saying: “They may be inflating the snacks we might be buying a tennis roll there for I don’t know what a six pack of tennis roll what it cost now, might be $600 instead of $350. They may be inflating the cost for the tennis roll. These have to be audited, they have to be audited. That’s the purpose of a post audit.” He added, “You think every day I am checking how much Exxon pays for treated water, next week you will ask me how much they are paying for snacks. I deal with policy issues so that would…like last week the capping stack you asked me. Oh Jagdeo doesn’t know how much Exxon pays for capping stack. It’s a subscription you could easily find out what the rate of the subscription they pay at. So it’s ridiculous statements to give you headlines.”

The costs to treat produced water and to lease a capping stack must be running into tens of millions of dollars, yet the chief policymaker does not think this is important for him to know. Never mind he keeps abreast with the most mundane of issues happening in the opposition camp; studies the editorials emanating from Stabroek News and articles from Kaieteur News. He can speak about cow manure in Berbice, a culvert in Linden and who is blocking the road in Parika, but he does not know how much billions Guyana is paying to lease a capping stack and treat produced water.

Mr. Jagdeo is the worst presence that we can think of that should be allowed to be near this nation’s trillion-dollar oil and gas sector. Mr. Jagdeo must not have anything to do with this sector going forward. He has caused enough damage, and he has displayed those worrying qualities that warn thunderously: he is not a fit and proper person, or leader, or contributor where the stewardship of this oil wealth is concerned. Since it has to be said, we will take the bull by the horns and lead the charge. We have lost all confidence that anything that Jagdeo does will result in what is good for Guyanese.  For his friends and handpicked cronies, he will do his best and succeed, but for the rest of Guyanese hoping for something beneficial from this oil sector, Mr. Jagdeo is a lost cause, a precious hope wasted. This is the essence of the man Jagdeo, and as harsh as this may come across, he has lost all claims for any consideration that he is a leader who can be trusted.  A man of his experiences and exposures should know, and know very well, that the management of oil is not the management of sugar.  Though the latter has its challenges, it pales when compared to oil, and Mr. Jagdeo as President and now Vice President has done incomparably poorly with sugar. It is the poorest of recommendations for him to be put in charge of this national oil wealth. Considering all this, with Vice President Jagdeo as the central figure, the only one in the discussion, in our oil, the time has come for President Ali to summon the courage and strength and to act.  President Ali has one choice and action only at his fingertips. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo must go.  He must be kept as far away as possible from this trillion-dollar oil and gas sector.

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• Bharrat Jagdeo, chief policymaker, Editorial, Guyana’s oil business

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