…on heavy oil
Raphael Trotman’s at it again…and even one of the Government-friendly sites had to pull him up. He seems determined to prove that Jagdeo’s early assessment of him as a featherweight (bantamweight?) in matters environmental – much led natural resources – was spot on. Now normally, his gaffes wouldn’t matter – but with him making policies in the one area of economic activity showing a flicker of life – they could be the difference between national life or death.
His most recent faux pas was on the Hamletian question whether to build or not to build a refinery here. Now your Eyewitness had long pronounced on the unrealism of this possibility – and we know “possibility” unlike “probability” is infinite!! But after dangling the possibility to the populace – maybe to distract them from the collapsing house-of-cards-economy – he was offered a consultant by one of those international bodies trying to help out the clueless-in-Government: like Trotman.
But after the high-price consultant told him what was obvious to everyone with the least familiarity of the oil industry (Clue – Why did Hess close their Virgin islands refinery – largest in the Caribbean – two years ago for which they’re being sued for US$1.5 billion!!??) Trotman opened his mouth once again and plunks his foot in it again! He announced that rather than just take whatever our share of the profits from Exxon in US greenbacks, he was going for the oil. And he’d refine it in either Suriname or Trinidad and “increase our value”. Say wot??
The first goof was to agree to take our share in oil and this ineluctably led him to his second. Why would a country like us – which can’t even fix a cane dumpster much less the boiler of a sugar factory – want to get into contract oil refining and retailing of gasoline, etc? Trotman should heed the old people’s folk wisdom not to hang his hat where his hand can’t reach.
But worse that that was the revelation he’s just been talking through that hat. Immediately after he made the announcement about our oil producing neighbours refining our oil – and that Suriname had offered! – came the riposte from the Surinamese officials that they can’t even refine the light crude oil we’d be getting from our fields!!
As for Trinidad, that country’s former Oil Minister – invited by Trotman, had already told him they only refine from medium to heavy crude. And it’ll be too costly to retrofit. Trotman’s too heavy. And he ain’t even a brother! Dump him!
…on SARU/SARA
There’s an interesting polemic going on between Chris Ram and two of his erstwhile colleagues from the pre-2015 election days – Tacuma Ogunseye and Eric Phillips – on the powers being given to GuySuCo’s Chairman Clive Thomas. Back then, Chris Ram could do no wrong – everything he said or wrote was gospel and was duly carved in stone and transmitted to the faithful. Of course, at that time, Ram was dissecting the performance of the Government of the day – the PPP – and from that perspective was in the Opposition benches. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that.
But now that the then APNU/AFC Opposition has become the Government and they’ve made some moves which Chris Ram disagrees with – how dare he speak out against them??!! Or more specifically, speak out against Clive Thomas ?? He’s obviously purer than Caesar’s wife and above approach!
That Ogunseye, Philips and Thomas are all executives of ACDA and work out of OP and Philips is an assistant to Thomas at SARA, has absolutely nothing to do with their stout defence!
…on AK-47
OK…so the AK-47 being smuggled out of Police Headquarters PROBABLY isn’t from the Police’s armoury. But isn’t the question really why was it being smuggled out??
Don’t the crack crime sleuths at HQ want to know??
