Opinion
We are grappling with modernisation of legislation by the crudest of processes
International measures of economic growth – usually expressed as Gross Domestic Product – add the tremendous growth in the enclave economy of ExxonMobil and co-venturers to the small locally-controlled business achievements. The official GDP figures contrast with the 48 per cent of the population living below the World Bank’s estimate of the poverty line. The…
Exchanging trinkets for gold
Reference is made to SN’s blogger, Justin, (SN August 10 blog on Andre Brandli’s letter). He explained Guyana’s share of oil revenues as follows: “Your mango tree has 100 mangoes which sell for $10,000 on the market. I pay 2% royalty. But I have the right to 75% cost recovery+ 50% profit sharing, and you…
Ability to service burden of debt relies almost exclusively on Guyana’s share of profit oil
A letter entitled “Notions that the level of borrowing is reckless are far-fetched” penned by Mr. Bhagwandin was published earlier this week in Stabroek News (August 8, 2023). The backdrop to this letter is as follows. The National Assembly approved, last week, a new debt ceiling to facilitate greater borrowing. Guyana’s domestic public debt ceiling…
Persaud’s ceding of Guyana’s sovereignty to Exxon
Reference is made to Dr. Randolph Persaud’s letter titled: ‘Suggestion that Exxon is Guyana’s new slave master is baseless . . .”. (SN August 6th). My characterization of the Persaud’s letter is to brainwash the Guyanese people into feeling gratitude for Exxon’s investment – and to disregard the Guyanese people’s arguments and plea for renegotiation…
Newspapers who publish accusations, critiques of OGGN, but who do not publish OGGN responses
Newspapers publishing letters with allegations and refusing to give the accused space for a response is unethical journalism. The following papers have published accusations against OGGN but refused to publish our response: Our response to these critiques is here: https://www.oggn.org/2023/07/29/oggn-is-a-legitimate-non-profit-organization-registered-under-the-irc-section-501c3/
OGGN requests the GoG to secure and publish the production machinery stress test certificates
The oil companies, Hess & Exxon, recently reported earnings in the 2Q2023 that were significantly below the profits they earned in 2Q last year. However, they were very optimistic about the future because of their big bet on Guyana. By 2027, they are projecting to be pumping 1.2 million barrels of oil per day. With…
The Demerara channel high pressure water injection will muddy traditional fishing grounds
MARAD Notice to Mariners number 114 dated July 31 2023 was published through the Department of Public Information on 03 August. The Notice covers the arrival and deployment of another of Jan De Nul’s dredgers. Jan De Nul is the 15 percent shareholder in the VEHSI shore base alongside the 85 percent shareholding of NRG…
VREED-EN-HOOP (PEACE AND HOPE): SIGNPOST OF THE OIL OLIGARCHY AND POLITICAL PARTY PARAMOUNTCY IN GUYANA.
A priest once said with reference to a local bigwig in Guyana, an impoverished country perched on the northern shoulder of South America: “first you get on, then you get honest.” That is, you need to acquire wealth before you can be philanthropic. Little of that culture of philanthropy appears to have survived among the…
Gov’t should use authority of mining law and Article 36 of Constitution to immediately remove the illegal Chinese Landing miners
Your editorial ‘IACHR resolution’ on 30 July 2023 summarises the resolution about the dreadful long-running case of illegal mining at Chinese Landing. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had previously addressed the complaint about similar problems at Isseneru. The two documents are well worth reading for the careful histories of events, and summaries of the very dubious…
What is wrong with a group of people fighting for a better, fairer oil deal?
I do not see a problem with a group of people like OGGN (Oil & Gas Governance Network) working to get a better, fairer deal for Guyana from Guyana’s oil. The Democratically Elected PPP/C Government seems to be hypersensitive to constructive criticism leading to some supporters getting riled up at the slightest criticism. This is…