Independent oversight oil body

Aug 09, 2024 Editorial

Kaieteur News – If an independent oversight oil sector body is put in place, the already dubious utility of Vice President Jagdeo withers to zero.  If an independent oversight oil sector body is necessary, where is the strength, the value, in Oil Czar Jagdeo being anywhere near to Guyana’s great oil patrimony.  We at this paper pull no punches, say it bluntly: the presence of a credible independent oil sector oversight body contributes to making Jagdeo into a liability.  He becomes a burden that must be carried, no matter how distressing, no matter how repulsive, that thought may be.

The truth of the matter about an oversight oil body is that Jagdeo is bent on holding on to the power and prominence that come from him overseeing Guyana’s oil.  He gets to call the shots, is free to do his own thing (whatever that proves to be, whatever is going on in his head at any given time). It has never been, will never be, what in Guyana’s best interests, only what is to the best benefit of Jagdeo.  A strong independent oversight oil body would be a challenge and competition at the same time.  A challenge because he is forced to keep an eye on it, while forced to keep his own oil management straight and sound.  It would be the competition that gives a leader like Jagdeo fits, since he would not have the whole oil territory to himself. What he has made a suspicious political living from, the product that he calls “better contract management” has proven to be nothing but another of Jagdeo’s copyrighted schemes.  It is what has left this country and all its people in a place worse than they have ever known. Both Jagdeo and his better contract management sleight of hand should be given the back of the hand.

A vibrant oversight oil sector body would do so. One that is equipped with the right people, backed by robust provisions of the law, and with the resources to deliver would make Guyanese quickly appreciate how much Jagdeo has cost them with their oil wealth.  Moreover, more Guyanese would realize how much valuable time Guyana has lost with this political leader running around unchecked in the people’s oil sector, like the proverbial elephant in a China shop.  Jagdeo would not be true to himself, as shabby as he is, if he didn’t bring in the Opposition PNC to the discussion about the urgent need for an independent oil sector body.  In his familiar manner, he points to what the PNC did with public commissions during its time, with political appointments.  For some reason, he feigns forgetfulness that he has done the identical thing with one public oversight body after another.  It could be that according to Jagdeo’s curious way of thinking that his political people (appointments) are far less politically oriented and less cravenly politically obligated than those put in place by the PNC when it was in government.  At least, this is what Jagdeo would like Guyanese to believe.

Still, he handcuffs himself by his resistance to a credible oversight oil sector body to the extent that Guyanese can rest their trust in it.  To have such a body in operation means that Jagdeo would have to yield some of his current exclusive control and involvement in Guyana’s pivotal oil sector. The mere thought of such a development is enough to make the nation’s most senior oilman sweat profusely, unnaturally. In Jagdeo’s distorted way of thinking, even giving up a little of this control would expose him too much, poses a serious threat to his monopoly over the sector.  It would be an end to the dreadful leadership that has long been characteristic of his disruptive and destructive political presence.

When a leader who talks up a storm about what is good for Guyanese from their oil balks like this for an oversight body, a couple of things take root. The first is that he has skeletons that must remain buried. The second is that he likes things as they are, for that guarantees his clever political games continuing.  When Jagdeo starts to circle around, it’s time for Guyanese to take cover, fear the worst.