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PNC and AFC hammer Sam Hinds for telling Guyanese to rejoice over pittance from oil
…say citizens should be worried that the Ambassador is satisfied with seeing his country being short-changed
The PNC and AFC Hammer Sam Hinds for telling Guyanese to rejoice over pittance from its oil resource
Kaieteur News – The People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) have hammered former President and Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds – who is currently Guyana’s Ambassador to the United States – for his recent comments that encourage Guyanese to rejoice over the pittance the country has received to date from the oil sector.
Former President and Prime Minister and Guyana’s current Ambassador to the United States, Samuel Hinds
In a letter published in Thursday’s edition of Kaieteur News, the Ambassador said, “…perhaps we should rejoice that we received directly US$ 4.4 billion, when without oil, we would have received nothing, zero,” Hinds said.
“Let’s feel good about the US $4.4 billion. If we have troubles absorbing the US$4.4 billion according to some reports, what more troubles we would have had in absorbing US$10 billion! Sometimes there could be too much of a good thing,” the former president said.
Hind’s letter was addressed to the editor days after Kaieteur News reported that the country should have already received US$10B from the Liza One and Liza Two projects. However, figures from the Bank of Guyana (BoG) revealed that only about US$4.4B has been paid into the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) since the startup of production activities to the end of June 2024.
PNC and AFC hammer Sam Hinds for telling Guyanese to rejoice over pittance from oil
AFC Chairman, David Patterson
Chairman of the AFC, David Patterson in an invited comment said that it was unfortunate that a former President of Guyana could express such simplistic utterances.
In fact, he said, “Hinds is now the country’s Ambassador, so we have to be very worried about the level of presentation on behalf of the country, if he is satisfied with seeing his country short-changed.”
Patterson said Hinds, like his government, completely miss the point, which was never the country’s ability to spend the resources garnered from the petroleum industry, but rather, ensuring the country receives the maximum benefits for its resources.
Furthermore, the former Minister of Public Infrastructure argued that the PPP government feels it is duty-bound to spend all the revenues generated from oil production.
PNC/R spokesman on Oil and Gas, Elson Low
He said that it is the only explanation for the comments made by Hinds, signaling that there is no consideration of saving for future generations. Patterson also suggested, “If you can’t spend all the money, it should be invested and saved for a later generations.”
Ambassador’s comments disappointing
Meanwhile, the PNC/R’s spokesman on oil and gas, Elson Low said that Ambassador Hinds has once again proven to be a window into the PPP’s true thinking and attitude.
“He previously praised the Stabroek block Production Sharing Agreement as “fair” and now his recent comments have made it clear that the PPP is intimidated by the challenges of the oil industry. Virtually, no political leader or party worldwide would say that it prefers not to have more revenue,” Low stated.
Instead, the PNC/R insisted that the country should be pushing to earn more revenue to meet the urgent development needs of the country.
He was keen to note that the former President in referencing the country’s absorptive capacity is alarming.
“His admission that revenues are not being used effectively is damning but more concerning is that he doesn’t seem to see that as a problem that can be fixed. Instead of speaking to the Stabroek Block partners to get more for Guyanese and reforming the government’s operation, the PPP has clearly decided to bury its head in the sand. The Ambassador’s comments are shocking and disappointing in equal measure,” the PNC/R noted.
(PNC and AFC hammer Sam Hinds for telling Guyanese to rejoice over pittance from oil)
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