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New oil PSA means nothing without oil commission, says Glenn Rall
Kaieteur News– Civil society advocate and businessman Glenn Lall has questioned the Guyana government’s rationale for enacting a petroleum law and a new agreement without a governing body to enforce it, saying without a petroleum commission the new Petroleum Sharing Agreement (PSA) is ineffective.
Businessman and Kaieteur News publisher Glenn Lall.
Monday, August 5day In the fifth episode of his weekly programme on Radio Kaieteur, Lal played a clip of Jagdeo responding to a question from our correspondent on when the Petroleum Commission would be established.
“You heard what he said, you saw how frustrated and evasive he became, we asked him about the group of people who were regulating the oil industry and he himself said that was the ultimate goal of the government. Today he ducked and told us what the PNC had not included in the new law he was working on,” Lal said.
“You can make all the laws, but if you don’t have the police and the courts, what do you have? Ever since we discovered oil in Guyana, we have been living in a state of lawlessness,” Lal said.
The Vice President recently stated in a previous press conference that the government is currently looking at strengthening the capacity of relevant agencies to better monitor the oil industry. In response, Lal asked: “Who in Guyana has the expertise to regulate this industry? Let me tell you, Guyanese – no one, no one. No one at the GRA, no one at the Department of Energy, and the EPA is a toothless poodle.”
Explaining the purpose of the commission, Lal said: “The Petroleum Commission is a body comprised of qualified and experienced people in the petroleum industry who can help us manage petroleum the way it should be managed so that all Guyanese can become super rich.” The current government in its manifesto promised, if elected, to establish a Petroleum Commission to facilitate better contract management in the petroleum industry so that Guyanese can benefit from the oil wealth.
The businessman recalled: “As soon as President Ali came to power, he told the nation that the Petroleum Commission would be established soon. Vice President Jagdeo said the same thing and Natural Resources Minister Vikram Bharat, when asked about it, promised to get back to my reporter in two years, but till today, he has never returned to the building, let alone to the reporter, let alone to this toolbox that is so crucial to the oil wealth we have. Today, four years later, the same Bharat Jagdeo is saying something very different about the Petroleum Commission.”
Lall reminded the audience that “the first thing that happened when oil was discovered was the creation of a petroleum commission, noting that all other countries that wanted to make full use of oil immediately created this team of experts. Saudi Arabia, Norway, Kuwait, Brazil, which have been the world’s largest oil producers for decades, still have international experts in various fields helping them protect their oil assets from oil thieves, including politicians.”
However, Lal said Jagdeo “knows that if he sends a truly independent team of experts to help manage the oil, it will break through all the darkness they have created there. The Petroleum Commission will shine a light around every corner so we can see and know what is going on.” “The Petroleum Commission will ensure that the oil blocks they are giving away will be sold on the open market and will provide us with funds to build highways all over Guyana. The Petroleum Commission will tell ExxonMobil that rates must be capped, they must make Guyana install meters on all pumps or they must stop pumping oil. The Petroleum Commission will instruct Bharrat Jagdeo – we need a document signed by ExxonMobil to fully compensate the Guyanese and anyone who has suffered losses as a result of the oil spill,” he added.
Jagdeo, in his weekly press conference on Wednesday, said the PPP/BJP-led government has done enough to oversee the oil sector transparently. “There is nothing magical about the Petroleum Commission,” Jagdeo told the media.
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