The Oil and Gas Governance Network has asked President Irfaan Ali to show the same concern for the ExxonMobil oil contract that he exhibited over the unfinished, problem plagued CJIA expansion project.
In a statement yesterday, OGGN said: “As any good leader should do, President Irfaan Ali visited the airport last week and virtually cracked the whip that he was not going to accept any shoddy work done, and the failure of the contractor to honour the terms of the fixed cost contract. He asked the contractors to complete the project expeditiously, or else the proverbial fire and brimstone will rain on those responsible.
“We applaud the President for such stewardship of national resources, and his intolerance for the incompletion of the US$150 million airport which has been dragging on for almost a decade with no end in sight…Essentially, the President wanted Guyana to derive maximum benefits from a costly project, and to have good value for money. We stand firmly behind the President on setting these high expectations and his impatience for mediocrity”, the organization said.
OGGN said that it would like to ask President Ali to show a similar passion with regard to the renegotiation of the Exxon contract, as Guyana stands to lose an estimated $55 billion as calculated by the international organization, Global Witness.
“Our potential loss on the oil contracts is hundreds of times the cost of the airport project. OGGN believes that the Guyana Government should leave no stone unturned to renegotiate the Exxon contract as advised by numerous supporters including Global Witness, Chatham House, the International Monetary Fund, and several other local and international stakeholders.
OGGN believes that Guyana must secure maximum benefits from its investments, and as the Government itself acknowledges as recent as the budget debates in parliament, that our potential loss of revenue from the Exxon contract is enormous, if the Exxon contract is not renegotiated.
OGGN calls on the Government of Guyana to show the political will to secure a better deal for the working poor of Guyana through the renegotiation of the Exxon contract, even as it seeks funds for its various platform promises”, the statement said.
