Dr Jan Mangal, former petroleum advisor to President David Granger, has said he advised government against investing in the development of the now shelved onshore oil and gas supply facility at Crab Island, in Region Six, as the proposal did not go through the due diligence needed for the investment, which would have required billions of taxpayers’ dollars.
“There were many other issues on which I believe I advised the President so as to protect the interests of the poor people of Guyana (e.g. inappropriateness of using taxpayers’ dollars to develop Crab Island, need for a comprehensive and independent study of the natural gas opportunity considering impacts of sea-level rise and long-term national development, etc.,),” Mangal wrote in a letter to the Stabroek News, which was published on Thursday.
“…I advised against the use of about USD 500 Million of Guyanese taxpayers’ money on the Crab Island project in 2017 because there was no evidence that an independent, transparent and auditable decision-making process was used for selecting this particular project. There was no stakeholder engagement in the decision-making process. The industry standard feasibility studies were not performed to consider all locations along Guyana’s coast and there was no national development plan nor any tie in to such a plan. There was no consideration of the impacts of sea-level rise. For example, why spend USD 500 Million in a coastal swamp which could be submerged in decades,” Mangal explained