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Ram and Mc Rae Survey

Nov 03, 2024 Editorial, News

…Editorial

 Kaieteur News- If the PPPC Government is interested in managing Guyana’s oil wealth better, it is best advised to react positively to that Ram and McRae survey (survey).  If the PPPC Government and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo are serious of emerging victorious in the next elections, then both would be wise to hear what Guyanese had to say in that survey, act accordingly.  We at this publication are not here to endorse any party relative to elections.  We are here to press for the best stewardship possible for this oil wealth.  When it is managed well, all Guyanese have a chance to rise economically and in many other ways.

In three key areas of the 2016 ExxonMobil-Guyana oil contract, Guyanese indicated their objections in numbers that reflect their impatience and anger.  Royalties at a meager 2%, zero taxes, and no ringfencing of oil projects are the equivalent of waving not one but three red flags in the face of Guyanese.  This is confirmed by the percentages of the surveyed who are charged up due to the odious provisions in the ExxonMobil contract.  In the eyes of most Guyanese, it is clear that their oil contract is now more than a crime.  The ExxonMobil contract now stands as a hemorrhage that is almost personal.  Given that so many of the responses to questions about royalties and taxes were above or close to 80%, the only conclusion that can be reached is that Guyanese are up in arms against the notorious ExxonMobil deal.  It is a lopsided deal and a dirty one, a deal in which they want to have no part, not have it as part of their existence anymore.

ExxonMobil has said that Guyana got a splendid deal, with unmatched revenue flows.  It is easy for that to be said, because there is no other sector in Guyana that generates so much.  What ExxonMobil slyly ignores is the amount of oil that needs to be pumped and shipped before Guyana collects the pittance that it receives.  Also, the people at the American oil giant are clever enough not to speak too openly in Guyana about how much its own rich haul is from the oil that is the property of Guyanese.  There is no comparison that could be fairly or honestly made with this ExxonMobil contract concoction that is supposed to be a partnership.  How does 2% royalty and zero taxes for one side in a partnership sharing agreement ever start to compare with what the other partner is grabbing?  Twist it or turn it, the partnership sharing deal between ExxonMobil and Guyana is not an equal one.  The money aspect is the biggest lopsided element, but it is not the only one.

To send a sharp message to the PPPC Government, the opposition leadership, and ExxonMobil itself, an incredible 94% of Guyanese want the current oil deal to be renegotiated.  President Ali, Vice President Jagdeo, and Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton should look at that 94% response and appreciate what citizens have as their priority, and how they must adjust accordingly.  The dissembling by Jagdeo and the distancing by Norton from previous calls for renegotiation of the 2016 contract must now be revised.  Where both of them hid behind words before, there is an opportunity now to change their stand on renegotiation of the ExxonMobil contract and be looked at differently by citizens.  Robots don’t vote, animals don’t vote, people vote, and both Jagdeo and Norton should know that more than others.

The respondents to the survey want ringfencing by a convincing margin.  Guyanese also want a petroleum commission, and not the one-man command and control setup wielded by the nation’s oil czar, Bharrat Jagdeo.  It is obvious that many Guyanese are as one with this paper, which has been calling for a petroleum commission that is independent, filled with experts, and free from political dominance. Vice President Jagdeo is too close to the people’s wealth, and he has too much power over it.  The survey should function as a wakeup call to the deniers and foot-draggers in the government, the opposition, and with ExxonMobil’s top executives.  Guyanese don’t want this contract, as it stands.  There could be unexpected consequences.

(Ram and Mc Rae Survey)

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