Greenidge urges citizens to prepare to scrutinise spending of oil revenue
While defending the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) between the government and ExxonMobil and its partners, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge has urged that the citizenry focus instead on their role in the oversight of spending of expected revenues.
“You cannot look at royalty and comment on the appropriateness of an agreement. There are many dimensions. Many issues,” Greenidge said on Sunday, at the Buxton First of August Movement’s Annual Eusi Kwayana Emancipation Symposium, which was held at the Friendship Primary School.
Also a former Minister of Finance under the PNC administration, Greenidge said that the bashing of the PSA is often done without any context, thereby leaving persons with a skewed perception of the benefits to be had.
“The government is getting revenues from the oil companies. You have to look at what they are doing with those revenues. There is a committee to manage the Natural Resources Fund and a big challenge can come with that,” he added.
He noted that bilateral partners are very keen for this country to have this fund because they know of the number of benefits it could bring. “You have to look at other things and, most importantly, the skills of the labour force. You also have to train your labour force so it is adaptable,” he said
But he warned that given the makeup of the fund, it would require the stringent oversight and input of the people if the monies are to be used to benefit the country. “If you see how our local councils work, you would know that you have to be worried. I didn’t mention M&CC or anything like that. You have to look at the resources, everybody,” he said, while also noting that there is great pressure to ensure that future generations also benefit from the revenue.
Greenidge also suggested that Guyana invest in the purchase of shares in ExxonMobil as a means of securing future revenue from the oil and gas sector. “The government is at liberty to acquire shares in Exxon, it can be a partner in Exxon. So, in other words, the company and government [are] in a partnership and that partnership it is largely one of sharing the exploitation of resources,” he said. “But you can use some of your rights; the resources that Exxon brings, to buy in or buy out some of the shares of Exxon, so that the people don’t have to kill themselves over ‘Oh gosh if we don’t get all this money now, you never getting anywhere,’” he added.
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan has said the proposed Natural Resources Fund will be managed by a committee that will comprise 22 members, representing various stakeholder groups. It will include representatives from women’s organisations, the Bar Association of Guyana, the Guyana Consumers Association, the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GY-EITI), the Guyana Press Association, the trade unions, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the University of Guyana, the private sector and 10 persons from the Regional Democratic Councils around the country.
He said that the committee is set up in a way to ensure that there is representation from every geographic region in the country so that they can have an “eye” on the funds.
“We were careful not to have any political member on this committee. So no representative from the government and no representative from the opposition. No Member of Parliament can be a member of this committee. No member of any ministry can be party to this committee,” he had said, while noting that they want the committee to be as independent as possible.
In order to safeguard the committee from persons having “permanent membership,” he explained that a nominee will only be able to serve a maximum of two years on the committee.
He earlier this month told this newspaper that monies will begin going to the fund from the start of production but that this country should only expect about US$200 million in the first year, and from that sum only about half would go to the Budget.
Greenidge said that deciding on what the budget sums are to be spent on would be critical because one has to “also have to recognise this is a country with the second lowest per capita income in the region.”
Making reference to last year’s guest speaker at the forum, Dr. Clive Thomas, who had suggested cash transfers to citizens be one policy for use of the revenue, Greenidge shared a differing view.
“I can’t offer that solution which Clive was privileged to offer. You have to ensure you have a formula that takes into account the fact that we are today without critical resources. We have health challenges facing us, infrastructural challenges…infrastructure is needed, it is a major priority,” he said. “…I don’t know that one can give a definitive answer to it, but it is felt, in the government, that the consequences of that negative impact are consequences that maybe we are not prepared to take on at this stage. It isn’t that’s something to be ruled out forever, but consideration is influenced by that fear,” he noted.