Dear Editor,
I am not a Marxist. I am not a Capitalist. If I had to define my politics I would say that I am more a Social Democrat. I believe in people-centred development in a democracy. In such a democracy for there to be development capital (money), human resources (labour) and mineral resources need to come together and be managed so that people benefit. The end result is not necessarily more money for people but rather better value for money/resources. This is why I favour a renegotiated ExxonMobil/Guyana Oil Contract. So that we get better value for Guyanese oil. We do not need to pump more oil; we just need better value from the oil contract which heavily favour ExxonMobil.
With the current oil contract ExxonMobil is basically saying “Here are beads for your gold”. And as such the current oil contract is exploitative. As a minimum Guyanese should be getting US$500m Signing Bonus (paid over 5 years), 10% Royalty, Payment of Corporation Tax on profits by ExxonMobil, 50/50 per cent profits share and ExxonMobil pays for environmental damage/clean-up in case of an oil spill. AS A MINIMUM. So, what can we as ordinary Guyanese do to get the current lopsided ExxonMobil/Guyana Oil contract renegotiated? In a democratic society we would petition the government by calling for renegotiation. But, the government is not listening as it sees people who are calling for renegotiation as enemies of Guyana progress and development. The political opposition is no different. They too do not want to renegotiate the lopsided oil contract. What we can do is to agitate for change in the PPP/C (in particular, the PPP) behaviour. We need to get them to change the manner in which they select the Central Executive Committee members who are basically supporting each other. By democratising the PPP Guyanese stand a better chance of enhancing Guyana’s fledgling democracy. Guyanese stand a better chance of getting the PPP/C to govern in their best interest. Sad to say, the ExxonMobil/Guyana oil contract is not in Guyanese best interest. Prove me wrong by demonstrating how the oil money is benefiting the majority of Guyanese?
Sincerely,
Sean Ori
