Management of oil is critical for the nation to maintain stability

By Wendella Davidson

OIL is known as one of the most important raw materials, as every day we use hundreds of things that are made from oil or gas.
In addition, tens of thousands of people work in the oil and gas industry, hence oil and gas are also important for the number of jobs that are provided

Just last week, the United States oil giant ExxonMobil made another welcoming announcement of having made a tenth oil discovery at Pluma I well in the Stabroek Block, which pushes this country’s production figure to 750,000 barrels of oil daily by 2025.

With such news about Guyana, a country once ranked as being impoverished and on about the same level as Haiti, it is expected that Guyanese will be waiting with bated breath to see the economic tables turn for the better and our citizens treated with utmost respect. It is in this light that recent statements by former University of Guyana lecturer Carolyn Walcott, an emerging political and international communication specialist, in relation to Guyana’s new-found wealth can be considered as well timed.

According to her initial observations published by overseas-based and managed Guyana Business Journal Magazine, Guyana’s ‘black gold’ signals “the awakening of hope for the country to arise from the ashes and label of poverty and underdevelopment.”
As such, Walcott passionately urged her fellow Guyanese not to “sit by and contemplate wealth while investors move beyond contemplation to action” and also urged that prudent political and economic stewardship be undertaken as it relates to the discovery and management of oil in Guyana’s basin.

In an exclusive interview with the Pepperpot Magazine, as a follow-up to her earlier comments, Walcott said that the business of political and economic stewardship with respect to the management of oil is critical for the nation to maintain national stability, transparency and a healthy economy. “I would offer that both the government and the opposition are equally responsible for the political stewardship to which I referred in the Guyana Business Journal article given that initial negotiations for the exploration commenced under the previous administration.

“While the government has indicated its intention to consider or renegotiate the current arrangement in 2020, political tussles should be conducted around a table rather than via media frames. Political stewardship, therefore, implicates the nation’s political leadership in advancing toward maturity through active dialogue for the good of the country,” she contended.

Added Walcott: “I do believe that prudent economic stewardship starts from the level of negotiating what is best for Guyana contractually and progressing toward a sustainable national development plan for the allocation of resources. Studies and reports suggest that oil producing nations including Nigeria have suffered from what scholars and critics have termed the resource curse as a result of economic mismanagement.

The need for transparency and accountability by all parties involved in the negotiations and subsequent production cannot be overemphasised because the nation’s economic future rests on these pillars. We must abhor corruption as a nation.”

Asked what greater role the University of Guyana, as this country’s institute of higher learning, can play in the entire unfolding scenario? Walcott proffered: “I’d like to consider the University of Guyana as a critical repository and interlocutor in the current oil development. I say repository from the perspective of building human capacity and the knowledge base necessary to support this vital sector of the country.

Many developed countries that have invested in research and development have yielded significant results from a healthy marriage between industry and research, built on a foundation of trust and transparency. The existing anxieties regarding issues such as who benefits from the wealth and what environmental effects are likely to occur following the extraction process should be used as teaching moments by UG drawing from external subject matter experts where necessary,” she said.

“This is where the role of interlocutor becomes necessary as the university should ideally function as a bridge between the private-public concerns and discourse. I say this from the conviction that whenever there is a lack of basic information there will be speculation, misinformation and misunderstanding of what the development means for the ordinary citizen apart from those directly involved in the investment. Simple FAQs are necessary not just from the investor’s information machinery but national media including both state and private entities. There must be a common recognition that this is OUR development,” she added

THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF UG’S CENTRE FOR COMMUNICATION STUDIES
Relating as the former head of the UG Centre for Communication Studies (CCS), before being granted leave to further her studies overseas, Walcott said “I’m aware that there are at least three streams from which knowledge regarding oil and opportunities for enterprise can be stimulated.

These include the Science and Environment writing course that can be used to encourage practising and budding journalists to research and write about the environmental concerns, past experiences of oil producing nations and the aspirations of environmentalists.

I’m not aware of the complement of reporters who are on the environmental beat, but the current development does create an emerging area of specialisation for serious reporting. The CCS can facilitate the process of capacity building in this regard, in collaboration with experienced specialists, as there are theoretical and technical issues that will require training to enable interpretation and reporting,” she said.

Walcott opined that a second stream through the CCS can create a steady flow is its new media and broadcast courses, specifically online journalism and introductory and advanced radio and television. “These courses can be used to create the platform for public discourse while recording, storing and retrieving the aspirations of citizens. Through content creation, students would, in fact, be part of history, critical conversations and the evolution of an oil economy thereby augmenting the efforts of mainstream media.

Also, the CCS can build a solid research profile by encouraging its final year students to undertake baseline research and inquiry exploring both opinions and the levels of existing public awareness regarding the oil investment. Data can then inform a deliberate Communication for Development intervention, which is a necessary component of any serious development particularly since citizens will be engaged at various levels across several sectors including hospitality, tourism and trade.

“Picture a citizen being asked what he knows about Guyana’s oil exploration. The natural response of an unengaged citizen would be ‘Well ah hear we gon be rich and that we gon get nuff investors, but I don’t know nothing more.’ Community and national engagement are therefore necessary to create an inclusive, optimistic and progressive climate. Although the season for public consultations may be over I believe that the social, economic and other implications should be public knowledge,” Walcott said.

And, in terms of the involvement of the media in processing and disseminating information to the general public, Walcott said her preliminary research has revealed what she’d like to describe as frame contestation, but added that it is a study that will be developed in the coming months for a larger project.

PROGRESS MADE
Asked whether she sees the need for studies on oil and gas is undertaken as a major discipline and whether it should be compulsory for new university students to embark on such studies at the preparatory level, Walcott commended the university for it’s insight. “To their credit, the administrators of the University of Guyana have made progress with the establishment of a programme in the Faculty of Technology which has been renamed, to my knowledge, in keeping with the new direction in which the country is headed.

Therefore, preparation is already underway, with collaboration between the UG and the University of the West Indies, for a Diploma and Degree in Petroleum studies, respectively. There may also be plans for graduate studies in this discipline. I believe that the current head of the EPA, Dr. Vincent Adams, played a role in this development.

As such, she stated that the establishment of the School of Entrepreneurial and Business Investment (SEBI), as part of the Faculty of Social Sciences, is another significant accomplishment by the UG to train citizens in preparation for business creation and expansion. Moreover, she said that the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (SEES) continues to facilitate research and student engagement consistent with the oil sector engagement. As the highest institution of learning, the University of Guyana has also strategically partnered with subject matter experts to host at least two oil and gas forums.

“Thus, I believe there are existing avenues for knowledge building within the newly implemented courses, but the notion of creating a specific course on oil development as mandatory does seem like a reasonable consideration perhaps as an introductory tool. A cross-faculty arrangement may also be a useful model,” she contended.

ABOUT CAROLYN WALCOTT
Walcott is currently pursuing a PhD in Communications at Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, where since beginning her studies there in August 2016, she has taught courses on Human Communication, Public Speaking and Media, Culture & Society.

Apart from teaching, she has also been fortunate to have her scholarly work shortlisted for conferences organised by leading academic organisations, including the Association for Educators of Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and the National Council for Black Studies (NCBS).

These conferences have so far helped her to situate Guyana in discourses related to national identity and visual production. She has already received acceptances for conference presentations in 2019, where her work will focus on race and gender identity and political rhetoric, respectively.

And, in addition to her academic pursuits, Walcott currently serves as the Vice President of the Communication Graduate Student Association which allows her to understand the intricacies of departmental administration and also advocate for student benefits.
“As I progress with my studies it is my intention to develop a body of knowledge relevant to media in the context of Guyana’s national development, as a vital research and policy implementation source.

In the meantime I’ll continue to use every available opportunity using an advocacy standpoint to encourage thoughtfulness about Guyana’s future” she said. “The architects of the Guyana Business Journal and I share a common love for our country and optimism about its future. I’m also a firm believer in being part of the solution rather than the problem or, for that matter, any hindrance that will stymie development.”