Guyana on brink of becoming world’s newest kleptocracy- Low

The Opposition, A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance for Change is upping pressure on the Government to have a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) that would ensure more Guyanese have an input into the document before it is finalised.

At a recent press conference, economist Elson Low said after months of relentless pressure to release the new model PSAs for shallow and deep-water blocks, the government has finally given in to Opposition and civil society demands that these documents be publicised.

“Now, having released the documents, the government is giving the Guyanese people a mere two weeks to review them and raise objections. An agreement of this magnitude should be subject to a much longer period of public scrutiny and should be laid in the National Assembly and debated, before being finalised.”

Low, who is an advisor to Opposition Leader, Mr. Aubrey Norton said, the PSA documents could easily govern US$100 billion plus of oil revenues over the next few decades, and it is important for Guyana to benefit optimally from its natural endowment.

Castigating the Government for permitting only a two-week window to ventilate on the matter, Low said the time is insufficient, and it would appear the more money involved, the less the People’s Progressive Party/Civic wants Guyanese to see these documents. “This is a sure sign we are being ruled by a dictatorship and a kleptocracy.

“Kleptocracy literally means government by thieves. We must not let the PPP steal the remaining offshore oil blocks. It will entrench an oligarchy that has little interest in the plight of the average Guyanese. It will amplify inequality beyond measure. It will embolden those who wish to subvert our democratic institutions.”

Low expressed many are alarmed at the country’s recent suspension from the Extractive Industries Transparency Institute, a suspension which means that the beneficial owners of the companies awarded any oil blocks could be unknown.

Citing Guyana’s suspension could result in the absence of transparency and accountability about who the oil blocks will be awarded to, Low stated this “again raises the specter of kleptocracy as the PPP elite could form a consortium with an international oil company and then award the oil blocks to themselves, their friends, family, or favorites, as is their common practice.”

If the PPP doesn’t care about poverty now, imagine how much less they will care from the decks of their yachts, he stated.

“The government must commit to releasing all beneficial ownership information for awardees in the oil block auction. Further, the government must lay the new model PSAs before the National Assembly for debate. Failure to do so should fill every Guyanese with dread. What kind of future are we facing under the PPP?”

He questioned what international investors are thinking when they see such lack of transparency and accountability in the government and lack of respect for the people and institutions of Guyana? “Is it that only the “friends” of Second Vice President Bharat Jagdeo, like Su, will receive ‘the support,’ to quote the Second Vice President? Let us not forget that Su alleges that he paid a “much larger bribe” for an oil company, an allegation that is still to be properly investigated. Will Su make an appearance at the oil block auction, under the guise of a shell company?

“How many legitimate foreign investors will be pushed out in order to favor the PPP’s chosen ones? Many foreign businesses and government delegations visit Guyana with an interest in investing here. How many of them are turned off by a government that prefers to favor its cronies? How many jobs could they have created in a free and fair business environment? Would their investments have lowered the cost of living by encouraging competition? Guyana and Guyanese suffer when businesses are turned off by the practices of an increasingly secretive, arrogant and kleptocratic government.”