Reference is made to Elder Green’s letter titled, “This mad rush to have foreigners develop all they can find in our waters is senseless” (SN August 16th). Mr. Green is onto something here. “Go easy on exploiting our non-renewable oil resource”, he says. When it’s done, it’s done. Further he cautions, “In other words, don’t bite off more than you can chew and be reminded of the philosophical underpinnings of those mighty men who established the Non-Aligned Movement, Nkrumah, Nehru, Nasser and Tito. We must not betray them”. Why go to the non-aligned leaders for inspiration to stop this mad rush? Darsh Khusial has said over and over, ‘Demand for oil will not weaken suddenly. Demand will be strong for another 30-years – and even after that, solar- and wind-powered energy cannot replace the energy supplied by oil. Can the energy from clean sources fly airplanes, move cargo ships – and provide raw materials for petro-chemical industries?’ Mr. Jagdeo, never mind your thoughts on a “limited window” to harvest all the oil as quickly as possible. Refocus your mind on getting value for our non-renewable resources – and do it in an environmentally safe manner. I would like to tell this story.
Growing up in Guyana in the 1950’s and 1960’s Cheddi Jagan would come to the villages (Edgar Ambrose would tow him on a bicycle – no cars at that time) and under a mango/flamboyant tree at the side of the road, he would tell the poor peasant rice farmers the story of being a colony. Colonial governments signed away our bauxite ore for pennies a ton to the bauxite companies, he would say. Why? Colonies were run for the benefit of mother countries and their investors. Believe it or not, today it is still run for the benefit of oil giants like Exxon. President Ali says you cannot negotiate with an oil giant. That is like negotiating with a Super-power. It doesn’t happen, the presidents says. Jake Tran says, “In Guyana today, you cannot tell where Exxon ends and GoG begins”. The two have merged – joined at the hip. A symbiotic relationship. See Tran’s video here: https://www. youtube. com/watch?v=WXv4HyVXVD.
Dr. Jerry Jailall over two years ago said: GoG and Exxon are joined at the hip fighting against the Guyanese people. Intercept’s Amy Westervelt, says, “Exxon conquered Guyana without firing a shot”. Read the article at this link, https://theintercept.com/ 2023/06/18/guyana-exxon-mobil-oil-drilling/ Dr. Jerry Jailall, Darsh Khusial, Jake Tran, Amy Westervelt – all tell aspects of the same story: The situation of Guyana today is many times worse than in colonial times when the colonial gov’t signed a concession to bauxite companies for what Cheddi Jagan called, “Pennies a ton for bauxite ore”. Lopsided contract aside, it is humiliation for an Independent and Sovereign nation.
Mr. Jagdeo (I personalize this because Mr. Jagdeo holds the power in the palm of his hands), please stop and make a U-turn, stop this needless exploitation of our oil resource – unless the country gets Fair Value. Once it is depleted it’s done. Stop this about people opposed to your gov’t. No need to import a man from American University to do push-back propaganda to defend this criminal exploitation by Exxon. Guyanese call on you to demand a renegotiation of a very lopsided contract. That’s all there is to this story. Cheddi Jagan must be turning in his grave to know how the party he worked for all his life to build is today embracing a 2% royalty contract for our non-renewable oil resource.
Mike Persaud
Article Originally Published At: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2023/08/17/opinion/letters/one-cannot-tell-where-exxon-ends-and-the-govt-begins/
