More objectivity needed at the table – Govt Minister

With continuous criticism raining down on Government from various quarters over its handling of the oil and gas sector, Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes has called for some amount of objectivity to be put forward.
The Minister who is also an executive member of the Alliance For Change (AFC), made the call recently in the company of other executive members at the party’s press conference.

The party was being questioned about its stance on the oil and gas sector, particularly about Government’s failure to release the details of the contract Government has signed with the US-based exploration company ExxonMobil.
ExxonMobil is said to have had some run-ins with its part of the deal in many oil producing countries. The issue has seen many stakeholders here berating Government for moving blindly even with the necessary facts before it.
AFC Executive Cathy Hughes said even with the known realities, there must be some objectivity by persons putting information in the public domain.
“The assumption that we are pushing out every day is that we have problems that this Government is weak and all the oil money will be stolen”. Hughes said, noting that is no real suggestion at this point in time that upholds that. “And so there is some amount of objectivity that needs to come to the table,” the Minister said.
She said as a citizen, she wants to see all Guyanese benefiting from the oil sector. According to her, she is very sure it is the case of all agencies that are giving advice to the Guyanese populace and making relevant information available.
“And that is why the media and other agencies … that want to bring advice and mobilise the population bring information as to what is going to be possible to Guyanese and how we are going to promote local content that is an aspect of the discussion that needs to take place on an equal level with our fears,” she said.
While acknowledging that the fears should not be overlooked, Hughes said there must be conversations on how the nation will benefit from the oil sector.
“Let’s have conversations with young people, telling them ‘why not start looking at the petroleum sector’. Those are the kinds of thinking that must balance this discussion. We don’t want to be consumed by this fear that Guyana will be like many other countries that was not able to make the best of it”.
Hughes said the challenge lies in the country’s failure to give an objective view to the issue. She said while ExxonMobil may have had challenges in other countries and specific areas, Guyana has not been making an analysis of other areas Exxon has invested in over the years.
Meanwhile, AFC Executive and Business Minister Dominic Gaskins said the project is very significant and is something that both Government and party want to see happen.
“We understand the significance of it; we understand the kind of revenues that we are talking about and what those revenues could be used for,” he said.
According to him, Government was told by a number of advisors who were critical of some aspects of the process, that Guyana could have been much worse in choosing a partner for the project. He said Exxon is a fairly reputable company as far as oil companies are concerned, reiterating that Guyana could have done a lot worse.
“I know we could have done a lot worse so I don’t know why we are agonising over doing business with a large company that is accountable in the country in which it operates. We should not look to talk ourselves out of a big economic development that has taken place in Guyana. We need to be positive about it because it is an extremely positive development,” he stated.