Independent institutions needed to oversee petroleum industry, not balahoos
Dear Editor, After a long wait, a Green Paper entitled ‘Managing Future Petroleum Reserves etc’ has been released. It speaks to our fiscal frameworks and a Sovereign Wealth Fund. The proposal has reportedly had the benefit of scrutiny and input from several international bodies and the Cabinet. About a year ago, a similar series of events unfolded with regard to the Petroleum Commission Bill. At the time, in a submission to the Select Committee assessing the Petroleum Commission Bill, I wrote: “The general posture of the Bill is that the Petroleum Commission (PC) is an advisory body to the Minister, albeit with executive functions. The Bill is not designed to create an independent or autonomous body. This posture of dependence will inhibit the capacity of the Petroleum Commission to perform its monitoring and regulatory duties. It also creates too many areas where the Commission’s actions and remit fall within the Minister’s sphere of control.”
Those comments apply to the proposals outlined in the current Green Paper. This suggests the emergence of an alarming pattern of behaviour on several fronts. First, one has to question the quality of advice being provided by the international bodies and their willingness to lend their names to these documents. Second, we appear to be utterly incapable of conceiving and configuring independent institutions.
The petroleum industry represents both a massive stress-test for Guyana and an opportunity. These institutions will bear the brunt of the stresses. They will need to be robust, efficient and autonomous. If, instead, we construct a fleet of institutional-balahoos designed to sway with the political tides and electoral cycles, we will all suffer the consequences. This is a moment in Guyanese history where politicians of all persuasions need to look beyond the end of their nose. Short-sighted, me-first or we-first policies will not work. There was some talk recently that the administration and the opposition might be prepared to work to achieve consensus and draft a road map on a limited number of topics. Perhaps they could start with this one. Yours faithfully, Isabelle de Caires