“We will hire world class expertise” – Harmon

…says Dr Bynoe does not have to be oil & gas expert

Noting that the President used his prerogative and judgement to appoint Dr Mark Bynoe as the new head of the Department of Energy, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, maintained that world class oil and gas experts will eventually be hired afterwards.

Responding to suggestions made on Monday that Dr Bynoe is not qualified enough for the job, Harmon said Dr Bynoe is an excellent choice, and he does not have to be a “world class” expert on oil and gas to head a department that would play a pivotal role in Guyana’s blossoming oil sector.
“In the media, there has been some concern about the qualifications of Dr Bynoe, and whether he is the right man. He is an excellent choice for this department, and comes with excellent credentials. Besides his stated qualifications and the work he has done on climate change and the environment, I think I saw a letter from (Ramesh) Dookhoo from the private sector that says he was head of the PSC.
“In addition to that, we will hire the people that are needed for the department. Dr Bynoe does not have to be a world class expert. He is now going to head up a team that will identify the specific skills needed for the department. And we are going to pay for that.”
The Minister also explained that several principles would be used to establish the department. These include financing, operationalising and organising. According to Harmon, Government is in the organising phase.
“Already there is some handing over taking place between Dr Bynoe and the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Petroleum section of that ministry. So it’s not like if we have a totally new kid on the block. We already have a structure, albeit not up to the mark in terms of what is required. We have a structure, and we are taking that into consideration. We already have advice on the structure.”
Prerogative
Questioned on whether there was a competitive process to appoint Dr Bynoe, Harmon noted that appointments of directors to head departments in the Ministry of the Presidency are entirely up to the President.
“Dr Bynoe has been appointed from the 1 August as the Director of the Department of Energy. All departments under the Ministry of the Presidency are (staffed with) persons who are appointed by the President. So you have a Department of Energy, the Director was appointed by the President,” Harmon explained.
“We have a Department of Public Service, and the director, who was the permanent secretary there, is also director. So departments under the Ministry of the Presidency are appointed by the President in his own deliberate judgement. There may be considerations that would be taken into account; but, by and large, in the Ministry (of the Presidency), the heads of those departments are appointed by the President.”
Dr Bynoe is a former Director of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Guyana. By profession, he is an Environment and Resource Economist. There have been expressions of support and criticism since his appointment.
Following a proposal he had made, Government had announced its intention in April of this year to take responsibility for the oil sector from Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman.
Trotman himself had made the announcement in a taped interview with the Department of Public Information, in which he said, “Government will, in the coming months, establish the Department of Energy, which will be housed in the Ministry of the Presidency.”
Trotman said also that the department would be “focused only on the development of the petroleum sector,” based on a proposal that he had made to President David Granger last year. Trotman, and indeed the Government, has received much criticism for the way the budding oil sector has been handled.
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, has been designated the holder of ministerial responsibility for this department. He announced the creation of this Energy Department to oversee Guyana’s oil and gas sector the very next month.