Dear Editor,
One of the stark realities Guyanese must confront is that the PPP has confirmed that they will not renegotiate the Exxon contract, and are willing to forego the estimated US$1.5-2.5 billion of our money every year until the cessation of operations in the next 25 to 50 years. Based on information in the report on the Natural Resource Fund published by the Bank of Guyana for September 2024, with Guyana’s share of Profit Oil amounting to US$4.7 billion since production began, the PPP by not renegotiating the Contract, has agreed to forfeit US$2.3 billion of our money in income taxes Exxon should be paying, but is not. This excludes amounts expended by Exxon in the absence of ring-fencing to finance additional exploration and related expenditures. The PPP has cost Guyanese approximately US$2.3 billion in oil revenues.
Even as we digest our reality that the PPP is really giving Exxon billions of our revenues, they sought to save face by announcing the G$200,000/household grant, approximate US$1,000 to every household, now reduced to US$500 for adult Guyanese, inclusive of those living abroad. In deciding to share this money out to Guyanese abroad it completely skipped the tens of thousands of children at home very much in need of financial assistance also. They seem to be under the mistaken impression that Guyana comprises only Pradoville and those other areas home to the various ministers.
The administration should re-engineer the policy focus of the upcoming disbursements so that it responds more to poverty considerations where we all know that between 280,000 and 420,000 Guyanese (rough 40-60% estimate of the population) are either in poverty or financial insufficiency. If we estimate that Guyana has about 14,000 children (based on annual student enrollment) from ages 1 through 17, then 50% of the total number of 238,000 children across this age group would be 119,000 children, a proxy for the number of poor children in the country. Alternatively, government can really help its image by paying out $50,000 for all children, whether in school or not.
The PPP administration should also postpone its vote-buying scheme until next year instead of sharing money out to Guyanese abroad who would most likely be given a reason to come back home for a vacation and collect the 200,000 to 500,000, or $100,000 for every adult returning Guyanese as spending money, when our poor children are more in need of it. Since this is just a one-off payment, we suggest $50,000 would go a far way to ease financial stress this Christmas Season and help with preparing for school in the New Year.
Sincerely,
Craig Sylvester
