Presidential hopefuls from five of the smaller new parties contesting the general and regional elections all have on the agenda the renegotiation of the oil contracts and the need for supporting other industries through revenues received from the oil & gas sector.
The candidates were asked the question at a debate which was hosted by the University of Guyana Workers Union in collaboration with Move On Guyana Inc. According to the University’s vice-chancellor, Dr Paloma Mohammed, debates are a staple in academic institutions.
Mohammed stated that she was surprised that a presidential debate has not happened prior to last evening’s event, while acknowledging that although the event was happening late in the season, it was better late than never.
Present at the debate were presidential candidates from five of the smaller new parties contesting the general and regional elections. Seated on the panel were presidential candidates, Ralph Ramkarran of A New United Guyana (ANUG), Robert Badal of Change Guyana (CG), Lennox Shuman of the Liberty and Justice Party(LJP), Rondha Ann Lam of The Citizen-ship Initiative (TCI) and Dr Asha Kissoon of The New Movement (TNM).
As part of the questions which focussed on a number of issues of importance currently affecting Guyana, the question was posed to the candidates; what would you give immediate attention to in the new oil and gas sector?
Ramkarran in response stated that though people expect immediate attention to be paid to the production sharing agreement between ExxonMobil, its partners and Guyana, he is not sure what can be done. The presidential hopeful stated that if persons look at the agreement, provisos are in place so as to prevent the amendment of the agreement and that is one area that should be considered. Ramkarran stated that opportunities however may arise to have the agreement amended. The candidate said that in that case he does not know what the best solution would be and how to get the company to renegotiate.
“In any event… there are a lot of agreements which are yet to come,” Ramkarran said, while adding that pressure must be placed on whichever government …comes into power so as to ensure Guyana gets a just deal from the oil companies.
Shuman agreed with Ramkarran’s statement and stated that contracts are written so that there is a mutual benefit and agreement for both parties involved as they all need to benefit equitably from the contract. Shuman said that he however, does not see the equity within the contract. “A Liberty and Justice Party government will obviously do everything in our power to ensure that whatever licences are given, we know for sure that Exxon does not have a social contract to operate in Guyana and that is something that has not been explored,” he said.
The LJP candidate stated that his party would restructure the laws that govern all of Guyana’s natural resources as “we are operating on archaic laws that give the minister the authority to grant or to take as they wish,” he said. He noted that under such circumstances, he does not see how the resources can be properly managed.
Badal stated that he believes as a businessman, that contracts can be renegotiated. “The renegotiation of the contract is very important,” Badal said as he added that through various approval processes a government can find opportunities to get a better deal. He noted that following renegotiation, his party will ensure that a template is put in place for other contracts in the future. “We will look for opportunities to renegotiate those contracts to have a higher royalty, to convert the production sharing agreement to a royalty-based agreement because we do not have the expertise to police the production sharing agreement” he said. Badal further noted that they will ensure that the current blocks that are not assigned and those blocks in which investors did not do what was promised, will be repossessed. “We will put that in a national oil company where every Guyanese from birth will be a shareholder” he added. The candidate said that royalties earned will go to a natural resource fund but the authority of the fund will go to parliament instead of one minister.
Lam too, is in favour of renegotiating the contract. The candidate told the attendees that her party will push the idea of a parliamentary oversight committee which would be called the sectoral parliamentary committee for natural resources. Lam said that the committee will have complete oversight on how resources are extracted and managed. “It’s critical in order to ensure that we have transparency in the industry in addition to the fact that we have to be able to control our own patrimony” Lam said. She added that the party is also focussed on how revenues from all resources are invested to ensure that in years to come, the future generations will benefit.
TNM presidential candidate, Dr Asha Kissoon asked the attendees if the citizens of Guyana would want to be “the next Venezuela”. She said that if her party is given a chance, the oil contract will be renegotiated and what is lacking from the current contract is transparency. She added that the lack of transparency is the reason that Guyana “is in the position that we are in currently” as corruption was allowed to seep in.
Kissoon stated that the most important aspect that her party has been campaigning on is the need for Guyana to have an oil refinery. “It is for the benefit of the people and it will bring about local content, thousands of jobs, training for our people and all the benefits that come along with an oil refinery” the candidate said while expressing that the refinery would be a modern one as industrialisation and modernisation should go hand in hand. Kissoon told the gathering that Guyana needs sustainable practices so as to prevent degradation of the country and to foster the protection of the environment and the profits received from the refinery will be channeled back to the people of Guyana through a “Sovereign Wealth Fund”.
The candidates also fielded questions through the programme moderator on other sectors including education and health. Attendees were also given an opportunity to ask the candidates questions.
