Market Vendors want Oil contract to change

PARAMARIBO - “Tell leaders to go to Suriname and learn to make a contract”. A Kaieteur News article headlined “Suriname secures three times Guyana’s Royalty for latest oil find”, has angered vendors of the La Penitence Market. Mr Chunilall, who owns a stall in the market, said that he is “very disappointed in his leaders for signing such a lop-sided deal” with ExxonMobil’s Subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL). The businessman said as a Guyanese, he is feeling very ashamed that Guyana’s neighbour, Suriname, got a far better deal. He added that Guyana should have sought advice from countries with experience in order to avoid such a “raw deal”. Chunilall told Kaieteur News that he refuses to believe that all is lost. He called on Guyana’s leaders to pressure ExxonMobil and Tullow for a renegotiation of the Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs). Another stall owner, Margaret, who operates in the La Penitence Market, said that she too supports the call to renegotiate Guyana’s

oil contract.

However, she told this publication that she has lost tremendous faith in political leaders from both sides of the political divide. She believes that Guyana’s leaders cannot be trusted to negotiate any deals on its people’s behalf because they are “too corrupt”. She also said “even if Guyana is successful in obtaining a better deal, its people will still be neglected since political leaders will fill their pockets”. Uncle Buddy who sells clothes said that he wants his “leaders to go to Suriname and learn how to make a contract”.

He continued that after Guyana’s leaders consult with Suriname, they must return and renegotiate the deals they had previously signed. Uncle Buddy said that he recently read in a news article that the government signed on to such a one-sided deal because of threats from neighbouring Venezuela. He said that “Guyana does not need friends; it needs money.” (Kaieteur News)