Today’s column will complete the remaining chapters VI to X of Raphael Trotman’s book. Before I do so, let me acknowledge the articles carried in the Kaieteur News, written by Ms. Kiana Wilburg, their senior reporter in that paper’s inimitable style.
Chapter VI
Chapter VI begins with the signing of the first ever petroleum production sharing licence in Guyana, described by Trotman as “the single most important investment in Guyana’s history since the first sugar plantation was established in the 1600s”. Again, it was President Granger who instructed him “to ensure production by 2020”, which of course, was the year for the next scheduled general elections. Trotman quotes Sir Paul Collier, development economist from the United Kingdom, exhorting the government “to get it out of the ground and monetise it as quickly as possible”. Mr Trotman was particularly pleased that production was achieved in 4 1/2 years, which he claimed, not quite accurately, to be half the industry standard.
