…by Trotman
Poor Chronic editor…He just can’t win. Early on, he was berated for carrying a reporter’s piece of how he (the reporter) was berated by PM Nagamootoo for his (the reporter’s) assessment of his (Nagamootoo’s) government’s input on the 2015 budget (“govt blunders…”). This made his staff so terrified about their role in a “government newspaper” (Nagamoototo’s words) they promptly photoshopped an Amerindian kid’s face over the body of an African one, so that Pressie, who was in the shot of kids flying kites, would appear more “politically correct”. And so on…
Now, continuing this government’s tradition of treating the Chronic as its handmaiden (Isn’t the PM’s shill still cracking the whip?) up comes Minister of Natural Resource Raphael Trotman. Responding to a question about the impact the US$74 billion fine would have on Exxon for not paying its Oil royalties to Chad, he insisted on an apology because he claims he never said “ExxonMobil had any internal or external problems” as the Chronic’s reporter wrote.
So what DID Trotman say? In his apology, the editor quoted him in full: “Minister Trotman said: “We saw with interest, and it reminds us that we have to be vigilant…I believe Exxon needs to find some money fast, and it will spur them to continue develop the well (here) so it can help to pay some of their fines.” Now we have a bone to pick with the editor. What the heck is this statement if not what the reporter reported??
If Exxon – one of the largest companies in the entire planet Earth (not just in oil) – “needs to find some money” quick, isn’t that one heck of an “internal problem”?? And if that money needs to be paid to a foreign country, isn’t that an “external problem”? What Trotman’s doing is making a distinction in search of a difference – simply because he knows he can ride roughshod over the Chronic.
And the irony is, even apart from having to pay the mega fine, Exxon’s facing so much “internal and external problems” from low oil prices – and no play in shale oil – that earlier this year Moody’s predicted the company would lose its Triple A rating unless it can cut its operating costs and increase its reserves. In fact Moody’s says this year Exxon will be hit with a US$10B cash shortfall.
The fact that Warren Buffet, the canny billionaire investor has sold off his entire portfolio of EXXON’s stock doesn’t suggest he thinks the company is free of “internal and external problems” – as Trotman insists they are!
What did the Opposition Leader say about Trotman’s qualifications for this job? We’d better not say!
…by Attorney General
In the same Sunday’s edition of the Chronic – as if throwing a one-two equal opportunity sucker punch at the media – was Attorney-General Basil Williams giving some licks to the Stabber. Williams was upset on the coverage about his objections to the appointment of the Deputy Registrar, Ms Zanna Frank, by the Judicial Services Commission. As reported by even the Chronic, Williams said the woman was “hapless” and shouldn’t have been appointed by the JSC – even though they’re legally authorised to do so. Williams feels the JSC shouldn’t even have that authority! Seems Williams wasn’t concerned so much with the coverage, but that the Stabber took his bete noir – his predecessor Anil Nandlall’s “side”. Nandlall had supported Frank.
The final bitching was about Williams’ debacle on the expropriation order he gazetted to expropriate his Ambassador to Canada’s land. Not much to say there save once again, SN’s article was the occasion of Williams’ war with Nandlall – not the cause.
The cause is the inexorable descent into the old PNC authoritarianism.
…by Infrastructure Minister
Was Minister Patterson’s declaration there ought to be a stepping up of government’s efforts to go after “wrongdoing” by former PPP officials when he objected to that party’s boycotting Prezzie’s speech, purely coincidental?
Or browbeating?
