Appointment of Canadian Consultant has all the hallmarks of the oil curse – Int’l Lawyer
…Review of 3rd well plan (Payara)
The recent appointment of former Alberta Premier, Alison Redford to review the field development plan for ExxonMobil’s third oil project, called Payara, has all the hallmarks of the oil curse says international lawyer, Melinda Janki.
International Lawyer, Melinda Janki
Former Alberta Premier, Alison Redford
The transparency advocate’s strong comment comes on the heels of a missive issued by the government on Saturday evening to the effect that Redford, an ex-politician who resigned in 2014 for inappropriately spending Canada’s tax dollars, is leading a team on the review of the Payara plan. The PPP government had also said that Redford was hired thanks to a grant from the Canadian High Commission.
Her team consists of “the former Deputy Minister of Energy in Newfoundland, Canada, senior international reservoir engineers, and Mr. Jay Park, Q.C, Managing Partner of Park Energy Law based in Canada and the United Kingdom.” It is significant to note that the members of Redford’s team were not initially released by the government – this information only became public late Saturday night.
During an interview with Kaieteur News, Janki categorically stated that Guyanese have had enough of secrecy and strange decisions in the petroleum sector. She is of the view that the government must publish the criteria which it used in order to select Redford and her team for this important review. Further, Janki posited that the evaluation of the Payara Field Development Plan should be put on hold until ExxonMobil addresses the ongoing issues with flaring aboard the Liza Destiny vessel.
As a result of mechanical issues with the vessel’s gas compressor system, ExxonMobil has flared over 10 billion cubic feet of gas. On a daily basis, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it continues to burn between 12 and 15 million cubic feet of gas per day. Taking this into account, Janki said that ExxonMobil needs to repair the harm it has done to Guyana and apologize publicly to the Guyanese people for polluting its air space with over 250 toxic chemicals on a daily basis.
Apart from this, Janki insisted that the government should have openly advertised for a competent team leader who is versed in the evaluation of field development plans rather than accepting a former politician who was involved in a financial scandal.
Janki said, “This is an extremely bad start for the PPP/C government. It has all the hallmarks of the oil curse—appointments made in secret, a team that has no loyalty to Guyana and apparently lacks the technical skills needed to correct ExxonMobil’s field development plan, and money from a foreign government (Canada) to insert its people into Guyana’s petroleum sector.”
The international lawyer added, “The review of the Payara Field Development Plan must be put out to tender in accordance with the basic rules of transparency and good governance. If Redford’s team is the best, they’ll still win. If not, they shouldn’t be doing the review.”
Also in agreement with Janki is former Presidential Advisor on Petroleum, Dr. Jan Mangal. Upon noting that Redford was selected to lead the review of the field development plan, Dr. Mangal questioned whether the PPP is trying to compete with the APNU+AFC faction for mismanaging Guyana’s oil industry. Based on her weighty political background, Dr. Mangal said it is clear that Redford’s expertise is not in reviewing such plans. The transparency advocate said, “This is a very sad joke, at the expense of Guyana. Did the PPP not look at Ms Redford’s bio? Do the Canadians take Guyanese for fools? How many field development plans has she reviewed for similar deepwater projects like Payara? I assume zero until told otherwise. Guyanese need to object to this inappropriate business. This is so disheartening.”
Former Presidential Advisor, Dr. Jan Mangal
Turning his attention to the missive the government released late Saturday evening, Dr. Mangal said that a lot was mentioned about her background in overseeing the energy sector in Alberta and her partnership with the World Bank.
Part of the statement reads, “Ms. Redford has served as a World Bank Advisor on Gas Sector Reform in Pakistan and Afghanistan and in other jurisdictions, as they develop new approaches to upstream regulation, transparency and accountability inclusive of community engagement. As Premier of Alberta, she introduced the Responsible Energy Development Act which created the Alberta Energy Regulator. The Act sets out rigorous regulation, compliance and enforcement provisions on all aspects of oil and gas production, including permits and licenses.”
Dr. Mangal said readers ought to take note that initially, Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo had clearly stated that one person was being hired. A subsequent press release from the Ministry of Natural Resources only mentioned one person too.
The latest release which went out on Saturday evening may be damage limitation after the intense reaction and rejection of the government’s chosen consultant, Dr. Mangal stated.
At the end of the day, the former Presidential Advisor said that burning questions about the haste to complete the review in less than 10 days as well as having it done by a former politician who is haunted by corruption scandals, remain unanswered and should be of grave concern to all Guyanese.
Scandal
Apart from Redford’s apparent inexperience, Kaieteur News’ background check had found that Redford had demitted office in 2014 following a slew of scandals.
In 2013, Redford had attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela while Premier of the Canadian province of Alberta. Her attendance, however, created a controversy when it was revealed that the Alberta government covered the approximately CDN $45,000 cost for her trip, including roughly CDN$10,000 for a privately chartered flight to return to Alberta from South Africa for a swearing-in of the new Alberta Cabinet.
Redford’s travel further elicited disapproval from Albertans when it was revealed that her then 12-year-old daughter and a friend had accompanied her several times on official government planes.
In mid-March 2014, Redford repaid the costs of the Mandela funeral trip and apologized. It was reported in the press that the money was repaid only after weeks of refusals to do so, and Redford “only relented after tensions within her caucus spilled into the public realm.”
The fallout over the Mandela funeral trip had led to further scrutiny, with subsequent revelations of Redford’s expenses to promote the province and questionable spending, while her government was making public service cuts. This led to charges that she was abusing her political power with a culture of entitlement.
On March 19, 2014, Redford announced that she would resign as premier of Alberta, effective March 23, 2014. She was succeeded by deputy premier Dave Hancock, as the interim party leader and premier until Jim Prentice was chosen as a successor at a leadership election, which was the Progressive Conservative Party’s third contest in eight years.
Further to this, Redford had announced her resignation as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Calgary-Elbow on August 6, 2014, one day before an Auditor General’s report into her travel expenses was scheduled for release.
On August 7, 2014, a report by the Auditor General of Alberta noted that as Premier, she and her office had “used public resources inappropriately,” “used public assets (aircraft) for personal and partisan purposes” and that Redford “was involved in a plan to convert public space in a public building into personal living space.”
The report concluded that these abuses arose due to an “aura of power around Premier Redford and her office and the perceptions that the influence of the office should not be questioned.”
