What should happen with Guyana’s oil money?

Dear Editor
I see the British High Commissioner to Guyana (Gregory Quinn) has waded into the discussion on how Guyana should spend its oil money.
On the face of it, High Commissioner Gregory Quinn’s suggestion to use Guyana’s oil money for infrastructural work does not seem like a bad idea. However, regarding this infrastructural work that is being peddled: Can Guyanese actually do infrastructure work? Or will it have to be done by foreign companies (which would make it spending Guyana’s oil money on imports of goods and services)?
If the answer is the latter, then even Guyana’s pittance of an oil revenue (pittance, because when ExxonMobil is finished with Guyana, it will be a pittance) will be spent on importing infrastructure projects. And let’s not talk about the maintenance costs.
As for Professor Clive Thomas’s idea about direct cash transfers to individuals to alleviate poverty, this is just a vote-buying scheme; as you need to work your way out of poverty, not buy your way out of poverty. Being in poverty is not just about lacking money; it is also about lacking the education and skills necessary to progress.
Saying that, direct cash transfer may work as a ONE-OFF cash injection, as it does not create a dependency syndrome.
What should happen with Guyana’s oil money is that the private sector should become more empowered to create jobs. This may mean lowering the Personal Income Tax to 25% and the Corporation Tax to 25%.

Yours faithfully,
Sean Ori