Sometimes flawed contracts are better than perfect ones

Dear Editor,

The PPP is on record condemning the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) or oil and gas contract that the Coalition government signed with Exxon.  It even misled Guyanese by claiming that it would renegotiate the contract if they elected it to office.  Now that it is in office, the PPP is on record admitting that it never intended to renegotiate the contract.  Every so often Jagdeo admits that the PPP knew all along that it had no way to renegotiate the contract.

Most recently he said even if a referendum supported renegotiating the contract, Exxon still had to agree to it and probably wouldn’t.  Considering the deception of the PPP and all that is taking place in Guyana, we must ask a few questions to appreciate the value of the oil contract negotiated by the Coalition.  The questions below are set against supposedly perfect contracts signed by the PPP with foreign investors for bauxite, timber, gold and manganese.  Guyanese are still to see those contracts so that they can be compared to the one signed with Exxon.

1. Is Guyana the fastest growing economy in the world because the contract with Exxon is flawed? Or is it the fastest growing economy because the contract enables Exxon to expand its investments rapidly?
2. Is Guyana set to be a major oil producing nation because the contract is flawed? Or does the contract enable Exxon to take advantage of market conditions, allowing Guyana to become a major oil producer?
3. Is Guyana earning record income and large amounts of foreign exchange because the contract with Exxon is flawed? Or is the contract enabling Guyana to produce bountiful income that is being mismanaged by the PPP?
4. Is the contract with Exxon flawed? Or is it allowing the PPP, its friend, family and favourites to live lavishly off of the income from the contract?
5. Are private companies shutting down their operations because the contract with Exxon is flawed? Or are businesses closing because of the incompetence and mismanagement of the PPP?
6. Is GUYSUCO losing money because the contract with Exxon is flawed? Or is it losing money because of the incompetence and mismanagement of the PPP?
7. Did the Gas-to-Energy project fire 65 workers because the contract with Exxon was flawed? Or was it because of the incompetence and mismanagement of the PPP?
8. Is the cost-of-living in Guyana unbearable because the contract with Exxon was flawed? Or is it because of the incompetence and mismanagement of the PPP?

People may wish to condemn the contract for their own economic and political gain.  But look at the money that the oil contract has already earned for Guyanese and the promise that it holds for a better future. The only problem is the future is becoming darker by the day with the PPP managing the wealth that no contract signed by the PPP in 27 years has brought to this country. The money is slowly disappearing.

Guyanese must review the failed contract with the PPP and employ a competent, progressive, visionary,  and well intentioned government that puts people first in all of its deliberations and at center of development.

Yours truly,
Mervyn Williams,
Former Member of Parliament.