So far we have considered the first and the second of the five economic and three political decisions in the chain that it was suggested must remain largely unbroken and be consistently implemented over decades if the natural resources of a country are to be effectively harnessed and transformational development result (Reversing the Resource Curse: How to Harness Natural Resource Wealth for Accelerated Development. http://www.lse.ac.uk/lse-player?id=1803). I have been engaging in this exercise to develop something of a broad personal vision of where the oil and gas sector in Guyana is and is heading. Unfortunately, it would appear that in the management of Guyana’s significant oil resources those links have already been broken and there needs to be quick remedial action if the situation is not to become irredeemable.
The third link demands that the local population be dealt with fairly. The natural resources of a country, indeed of the world, are randomly distributed and thus should be equitably shared. Apart from the resources of the deep sea, which are under the remit of the United Nations to be used for global development, the theory of sovereignty prevents us from attempting to globally equitably distribute national resources. However, internally every effort should be made to equitably distribute the fruits of a country’s natural resources and no particular region of a country should have veto power over distribution.
