Dear Editor,
Benjamin Franklin, known as one of the founding fathers of the United States of America was an inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher. Being born into poverty and leaving home at a young age, he self-taught most of these professions. As one of the forefathers of the United States of America, he is known as one of the most consequential leaders of the American democracy. Franklin’s example demonstrates human ability to possess several streams of knowledge that unfortunately, President Ali cannot grasp the concept of multiplicity in contemporary times. His latest utterance that “everyone is an expert”, alluding to a comment made by former President Donald Ramator who referenced his belief that the Petroleum Sharing Agreement (PSA) with ExxonMobil should be renegotiated.
The head of state believes that opinions of a lopsided contract only belong to experts with higher education or questionable academic qualifications like himself is truly misleading. Like Benjamin Franklin possessed in the 1700s, today more apparently with the advent of the internet, the common man is a product of multiple streams of knowledge. No longer are individuals pigeonholed as a lawyer who must only comment on legal issues or a teacher on education issues nor a doctor on medical issues. Knowledge is pervasive, bountiful and does not belong to a single person or government entity. The PSA has been public for quite a number of years for the Guyanese people to research and draw conclusions on this injustice to our national patrimony. Contract law is never set in stone as there are limits and allowances granted to restructure contracts in the event that circumstances change. They are numerous examples of contracts being renegotiated to gather a fair deal for countries.
The former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is recorded recently stating during his tenure how unjust the contract for the Piraeus port in Athens had been for his country that was negotiated by the previous government. The contract placed the port under full control of a Chinese company with the Greeks not being able to garner much taxes nor employment opportunities for its people. The former statesman described how he took a proactive approach of renegotiating this contract with the Chinese company who acquiesced to the government demands thus providing favourable conditions for the Greeks. It is inconceivable why successive governments haven’t found it prudent to renegotiate a fair deal for our children, elderly and working class who would benefit exceedingly from ring-fencing for each project, higher royalties and a larger percentage of returns on profit oil.
The contract could have provisions for ExxonMobil and its partners to facilitate refining a portion of oil for domestic consumption which will reduce the price of fuel, electricity and other consumables exponentially to provide relief to families. Oil companies coming to invest in our country should not take advantage of cost recovery measures with high percentages as the current PSA inked has and interest rates should not be as cost recoverable. Politicians need to examine which group they serve, whether they prefer to cozy up the demands of multinational corporations or taking hardline positions to protect our resources to ensure the country coffers are sufficiently funded for its citizens. The President’s imprudent comment on everyone ‘being an expert’ is unfounded for a nation that is highly literate and can clearly see when they are being duped and is experiencing lack of leadership. The populous don’t need high level academics to figure out when they are being robbed but rather a wise leader would listen to the concerns of his constituents to adapt a fair deal that will further promote the growth and development of the world’s second fastest growing economy.
Sincerely,
Collin Haynes MPH MBA
