Dear Editor,
It’s not that the PPP Government can’t ask for a renegotiation of the oil contracts. It simply would not. The PPP acts as if Exxon and friends own our oil and their job is to ask for a few crumbs from the oil masters’ table. The contracts have a clause that the contract can be reviewed as long as both parties agree. The government has not said whether they requested a review and the oil companies refused. The Government has said it will not renegotiate the oil contracts – an election promise broken, that may come to bite them in 2025, as they hang by a one-seat majority in Parliament. We will not forget the PPP’s betrayal on oil renegotiation. And the momentum for renegotiation is resonating with poor fisherman struggling to make ends meet, sugar estate workers being stringed along, market vendors, security guards, and other destitute, vulnerable groups asking “weh the oil money deh?” The work of Mr. Glenn Lall, Kaieteur News, Stabroek News, and Civil Society groups such as “Our Wealth, Our Country,” Oil and Gas Governance Network (www.OGGN.org), TIGI, Article 21 and other independent writers, is having a cumulative effect in helping Guyanese understand we have a rotten oil deal and both the PNC and PPP are OK with us being screwed by the oil imperialists.
Now with the “Liza 1” environmental permit expiring in a few days, people are asking whether the Government will use this leverage opportunity by putting a hold on the renewal of the Liza 1 permit and negotiate for a better oil deal. Now, this is a legitimate right of Guyana and its Government to choose to use its power of leverage. Will the Government use this leverage point? Will the PNC call on the Government to use its leverage points, in a “One Guyana” rare show of unity, so our “rich nation of poor people” will have a fighting chance to emerge out of their persistent poverty? Guyana’s needs are enormous, and it will take much more money than we are getting now to improve all our infrastructure and provide “living wages,” cost-of-living increases, pensions for all including housewives and the self-employed, and more income enhancing measures.
The oil companies are also asking to extend the relinquishment period of some oil blocks. The relinquishment clause requires the oil companies to give back a certain percentage of oil blocks, at specified time intervals. The relinquished blocks can be auctioned off to other oil companies and Guyana can earn more income. Since the oil companies are not playing nice, why would the Government extend the time for them to keep holding on to these blocks that are up for relinquishment? If we do that for them, what will they do for us? So, this is another leverage point that the Government can utilize to secure a better deal. Will the Government use this leverage point in the interest of our nation? It’s one thing to blame and cuss the PNC for signing a bad contract that gave away the national patrimony. It’s equally bad for the PPP Government to not use its legitimate leverage power to get a better deal from the oil companies.
The Government gets credit for yielding to pressure from Civil Society groups to conduct the audit of $US 9 billion of expenses submitted by the oil barons. We trust that will not be a sham, token exercise. Civil Society groups had advised that the Government use the approval of the Payara project as a leverage point. Instead, the Government ended the contract of the EPA head, replaced him with a substitute and did a speedy approval of the Payara project. Was this in the best interest of Guyana or was this in the interest of the oil barons? The Government has consistently demonstrated that it is on the same side with the oil companies and the PNC versus the people of Guyana. It looks out for the best interests of their oil companies rather than the Guyanese people. Editor, for every dollar Guyana gets, the oil companies get 6 dollars. While Oil Companies got roughly US$3.6 billion -TAX FREE- so far, Guyana got about US$ 600+ million, but we paid US$ 725 million of their taxes. (Did we, in effect, make a loss?). What kind of monkey business is that? Is that business or a giveaway?
We urge the Government to use its leveraging power and not do any speedy renewal of Liza 1 without environmental reforms or reforms that will give us a better income. The oil companies’ indecent liberties with the environment – daily dumping of sewage into the ocean, ongoing flaring, environmental risks to fishing when dozens of wells are operating at the same time; inadequate insurance, etc., must be resolved now. We are watching to see if the PPP Government will stand with the people of Guyana or stand with the Oil Companies and the PNC’s sellout contract. Oil companies don’t vote, it’s the working stiff who do!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall
