Following searing criticism by former Advisor on Petroleum, Dr Jan Mangal that the government is unwilling to invest enough now on training and hiring of experts, Minister of State Joseph Harmon says such assertions are wrong and the administration is continuing to build capacity.
“We need people on the ground working there on long-term contracts, at least a year or two. We need to spend US$10M now and save US$1B in the future and the government is unwilling to spend the US$10M now and save the US$1B in the future,” Mangal said, last week, on the Qatar-owned Al Jazeera Media Network’s production ‘The Stream’.
He was a guest on a panel comprising government’s representative and Director of Public Information, Imran Khan; chartered accountant and attorney-at-law Christopher Ram and Director of the Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment, Lisa Sachs which examined Guyana’s recent oil discovery, under the theme- Guyana: Will its oil boom benefit the people?