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Dec 05, 2016 Letters
Dear Editor;
With the recent discovery of oil off Guyana’s shores a little over a year ago, we have seen a school of consultants parading around the streets of Georgetown accompanied by the Honorable Minister of Natural Resources Mr. Trotman. According to the Minister, these consultants are experts in their field and have provided similar consultancy support to various other countries.
The minister assures us that Guyana is in good hands as he boasts proudly about all the help is receiving from international consultants. Beware of the experts Guyana.
One advisor Mr. Tony Paul is currently an advisor to the Ghanaian government. Here is what the Economist magazine had to say about Ghana in its most recent issue. “With public debt hovering at 70% of GDP and debt repayment accounting for a third of government revenue, its finances are precarious.
Worse, it has already squandered the windfalls it expects from the development of large off shore oilfields. The roads are full of potholes, there are regular power cuts and big companies talk openly about moving across the border to Ivory Coast”.
Another advisor Ms. Jacqueline Khoury served in an advisory capacity to the Government of Liberia. Here is what a local Liberian newspaper had to say about Liberia. “As desperate as they were or are to see progress in their lives, at least from the windfalls from the oil revenues, those dreams, as of 2015 were shattered as the mammoth bureaucracy known as National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), supposedly is ‘restructuring’ – or as some would say has gone bankrupt, courtesy of unbelievably high salaries and rampant corruption”.
In addition it has been alleged that Ms. Khoury has also invited to Guyana, a Nigerian billionaire Mr. Kaze Lawal, who flew to Guyana on his private jet and was entertained by officials at the highest levels of Guyana’s government. Of course none of this was ever reported in the press and the people of Guyana are once again left in the dark.
Let’s be fair, no one can blame the failure and mismanagement of a country’s resources on a single consultant and to be clear these statements are not an indictment on Mr. Paul or Ms. Khoury’s work but it does raise some serious questions about the future of Guyana’s oil revenues and its intended use.
It shines the light on an ugly sore that has been like an albatross around the necks of developing countries i.e. corruption and the lack of transparency and accountability. Further, it tells us that experts alone aren’t enough, and that there is something even more fundamental that is lacking i.e. a basic sense of honesty and integrity.
If past is prologue, then the rank corruption of the current ministers speaks volumes. The sovereign wealth fund is more likely to become a personal slush fund for the new tsars. I know the international community is watching and is fully aware of all that’s going on.
Remember not so long ago those in the PPP thought they were untouchable and that they would be in power for life. Those who forget the past are bound to repeat it.
Errol Thompson
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