It is simply unheard of for a company to just quote a figure to be paid, whether by another company, a person, or a government, without at least giving a breakdown of the expenses. So said Chartered Accountant, Nigel Hinds, yesterday as he expressed his concerns about the US$460M pre-contract cost that ExxonMobil wants Guyana…
The silence is deafening. It is indeed unfortunate that so many Guyanese are keeping quiet in the face of the glaring atrocities highlighted in the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) that Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman signed with ExxonMobil. That is the crux of comments made by Chartered Accountant, Nigel Hinds. Hinds said that advocates…
You found out that your backyard has gold. Someone comes along and tells you he can dig up your gold. So you sign a contract with him that stipulates you are only entitled to 10 percent of your own gold. The gold digger finds 10,000 bars of gold, therefore according to the provisions of the…
If one adds the collective losses from contracts that were mismanaged; investments that fell through, like the glass factory under Burnham and the Skeldon Factory under Jagdeo as well as the Marriott; if you also consider all that was given in bailouts and loans to agencies that had to be written off; those losses will…
We don’t need to hear about the personal sacrifices of politicians during past political campaigns or the hardships of being a leader, especially when such inflated speech is used as a means to defend the worst contract ever agreed upon, if opportunity losses to Guyana are computed on a per capita basis in the Production…
A recent article in the Stabroek News ‘No plans to revisit Exxon deal’ (Jan 26) suggests that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was involved in the drafting of the Petroleum Commission Bill: “…the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), International Monetary Fund and the Commonwealth had helped with the drafting of the proposed legislation and stakeholders consulted…
Minister Trotman is reported (18th Jan) as stoutly defending ExxonMobil’s investment here. He says that Guyana should focus on what has been gained. Like what? The 2% royalty? The Falkland Islands have negotiated 9%. This tiny territory of 4,000 people will get 4.5 times as much as Guyana on every barrel of oil. Tarron Khemraj…
The notion of the STATE sharing the production of oil and gas with companies as part of a commercial enterprise was first developed in Bolivia in the 1950s. Today it is widely used in over 40 countries, so the Government of Guyana cannot claim that the unavailability of international experts to advise it was the…
Keeping information from the public only results in distrust and contracts for all of the country’s natural resources should be published, says Government’s Petroleum Advisor Jan Mangal. “The signing bonus and all revenues should be disclosed. There are no pros for non-disclosure, only cons,” Mangal told Stabroek News in response to questions posed on the…
STRAIGHT TALK Let me be very clear, Minister Trotman and Minister Jordan are creatures of President David Granger. They cannot collect G$3,780,000,000 (Yes, nuff zeros! G$3.7 billion is the equivalent of US$18 million) from a private sector investor with a track record that is not perfect with respect to relations with third world governments and…
