Prominent economic adviser, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop has warned that the establishment of an Energy Department under the Ministry of the Presidency (MOTP is a dangerous development, signaling a possible autocratic takeover of the oil and gas revenues by those who will be in charge of the new agency – staunch members of the Peoples National Congress (PNC).
Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader, Raphael Trotman – as is gazetted – officially had oversight of the lucrative sector which falls under his purview as the Minister of Natural Resources.
However, he was recently stripped of this responsibility following a decision taken by the Cabinet which is chaired by the President and PNC Leader David Granger.
The responsibility of the emerging sector will now fall under the MOTP and Granger’s right-hand man Joseph Harmon – the Minister of State – will be in charge of the industry.
In one of his most recent analyses, Dr. Ramsaroop explained that by establishing a department to monitor such a major sector, it limits parliamentary scrutiny.
“This Department, and not a Ministry, with its control over the deposit account—called Wealth or Natural Resources Fund—appears to be the creation of a slush fund with no Parliamentary oversight over the spending of the money receives from its oil fields. It is no different from outfits created by the PNC and how they were run under their regime,” he stated.
He further noted that the Granger/Harmon controlled Department, flies in the face of international best practice which suggests that having such wealth funds placed under -political control could lead to a president or ruling party abusing or laying waste such a fund.
In fact, with less than two years away from oil production (the collection of oil revenues), the APNU+AFC coalition is yet to present concrete works for the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund and a Petroleum Commission – both organisations which are supposed to be designed to prevent corruption in the management of revenues from the oil sector.
Only recently, US Ambassador to Guyana Perry Holloway reminded government of the importance and urgency of putting together these structures but he was greeted with a feral blast from the Minister of Finance Winston Jordan.
Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo has since noted this development and explained that the Ministry’s respond shows how petulant, thin-skinned and imperious the government is when it comes to taking advice.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ramsaroop noted that President Granger, with his Department of Energy, has now set the stage not only for oil revenues in 2020 to go to his “private party purse” but for all decision making to be exclusively controlled by him.
