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Jagdeo says: PPP not worried about losing votes for not renegotiating Exxon deal
Kaieteur News – General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC), Bharrat Jagdeo said that his party is not worried about losing any support for its decision to not renegotiate the lopsided contract with ExxonMobil as it heads into Local Government Elections.
Jagdeo was at the time answering questions from reporters at a PPPC press conference held at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown. A reporter from the Kaieteur News asked him if his party’s failure to renegotiate a better oil deal with ExxonMobil for the country could affect its support base in the upcoming local government elections. In response, the PPPC’s General Secretary maintained that his party never promised to renegotiate the contract while campaigning for the March 2020 regional and general elections and supporters still voted it into government.
PPP/C General Secretary, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo
“The PPP made some promises they heard me as General Secretary say before 2020 that we will ensure that we get more out of these contracts but we will not renegotiate the Stabroek Block contract,” Jagdeo said
“And they heard me say as General Secretary, that we will make a number of changes to the regulatory regime that will ensure the oil and gas sector is developing in a safe manner and more benefits accrued to the people. That is before the 2020 general elections and they voted for PPP so you are asking me now why they wouldn’t vote for the PPP now because of this,” a confident Jagdeo further added.
According to Jagdeo his party has been able to get more out of the Stabroek Block deal without renegotiating it. For Jagdeo, getting more out of the Exxon contract without a renegotiation for better terms, is the PPPC’s decision to pursue a US$2B Gas-to-Energy project and implementing a local content policy so that Guyanese can get jobs, rent houses, and apartments to oil companies.
“Not only have we wanted more for our people, but we have now started a Gas-to-Energy project that will Guyanese get free gas and that will see their bills cut by half and the project is one of the ways. We are getting more out of this deal through that”, Jagdeo told reporters.
Secondly, he continued, “they have seen us put in place a local content law that will bring US$700M of business to the local community. Many of them are busy involved in building homes or constructing for builders because many of them may be ordinary people constructing homes for people who will be renting to the oil companies”.
He added too that PPPC has increased the fiscal terms for new oil contracts such as higher royalties, strengthened the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permits for the oil and gas sector, and implemented a New Sovereign Wealth Fund and Natural Resources Fund Act that strengthens transparency. Jagdeo continued by saying It is his view that such actions by the PPPC are enough to keep his party in power without seeking a better deal for the country.
The Stabroek block deal has been criticized by many as being lopsided because of the mere two percent royalty, absence of ring-fencing, lack of full coverage insurance among other glaring loopholes that put the country at a disadvantage while allowing ExxonMobil to make Billons of US dollars in profits. Kaieteur News has been at the forefront in reporting about the great benefits that Guyana can receive if it renegotiates the Stabroek Block deal. Civil society bodies have also called on the government to act in the best interest of citizens but according to Jagdeo, “The people who vote for the PPP, they know that the campaign being led by Kaieteur News and the others is convenient”.
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