Shutting down Guyana’s oil industry should never be an option

Dear Editor,
It was with disbelief that I read in the news that “Environmental and human rights activist Guyanese Janet Bulkan on Tuesday asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to order the halt of oil and gas exploration because fossil fuels were damaging the environment and causing a loss of livelihoods.
This comes shortly after “International Lawyer Melinda Janki called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to shut operations at Exxon’s Liza Destiny oil vessel, and make them pay for the damage to the health and wellbeing of Guyanese as well as the environment”.
Here I am, thinking that every Guyanese would want to have the best for Guyana and for our Government to utilise the money made from the oil industry to develop the country. Unfortunately, it appears that these two intelligent women want to shut down the fledgling oil industry in Guyana, and I cannot understand why.
What is their motive for trying to keep Guyana under-developed while they live in developed countries, travel with the best airlines, and stay at the best hotels? Why haven’t they called on the oil industries of the developed countries to shut down, the same way they are calling on Guyana’s to be shut? Why haven’t they been calling for Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Canada or the USA to stop producing oil or exploring for more oil?
Is there a hidden agenda? Are there wealthy, powerful people who prefer to remain hidden while Janet Bulkan and Melinda Jankie do their dirty work for them? Are there persons who are paying them and their expenses as they travel to and from Guyana frequently, while they try to shut down the oil exploration and production?
To the ordinary Guyanese, it appears that these women would like to have Guyana return to the dark ages of no development. What they don’t tell people is how many things used daily by ordinary people are made from fossil fuels.
Shutting down Guyana’s oil industry should never be an option. However, the industry needs to function under strict environmental guidelines for exploration and production. This is where our Government and the Environmental Protection Agency need to become more active, so the oil can be explored and extracted using environmentally friendly methods.

Respectfully,
Jonathan Yearwood