‘Coalition’ best managers of oil resources
Petroleum expert, Dr. Jan Mangal
Petroleum expert, Dr. Jan Mangal

–petroleum expert denounces PPP as band of corrupt politicians

ALTHOUGH former Petroleum Adviser to the President, Dr. Jan Mangal is not in full agreement with the management of oil contracts by the current administration, he is convinced they are the best leaders to manage Guyana’s petroleum sectors.

Dr Mangal said as much in a letter to the press on Saturday, where he compared management under the former People’s Progressive Party (PPP) to that of the David Granger-led Coalition government.

“Please note that even though I am critical of many high-ranking officials in the current government, I saw for myself how President Granger took numerous positive actions with respect to oil. Also, I am still convinced that the current leadership cabal of the main Opposition is a tremendous threat, and the biggest threat to our future with oil,” Dr Mangal said.

The petroleum expert stated that he has had much time to observe and come to the conclusion, as he continues to highlight the “grand thefts and forfeitures of billions of US dollars” under the former administration.

However, recent attacks against his character have caused Dr Mangal to respond to his accusers.

One of the attacks at reference came from PPP affiliate, Robin Singh, who accused the former petroleum adviser of influencing ExxonMobil in its award of a contract in 2017 for a supply base in Guyana.

In response, Dr Mangal said: “This is incorrect. I had no influence, and no one in government, or associated with government, should have any influence. Contracts that ExxonMobil signs with companies for services in Guyana and around the world are business-to-business (B2B) contracts. Governments must not be involved in any way to influence the award of these contracts between companies, and if they are, that is corruption. This may come as a shock to Mr. Robin Singh and the current leadership cabal of the PPP, because when they were in government, they were widely accused of illegality in respect to major contracts.”

Dr Mangal has been credited with greatly influencing the decision of the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) to investigate the questionable award of oil blocks to “junior” companies by the PPP in the dying days of its term in office.

It is being reported that a short while before the 2015 General and Regional Elections, the PPP/C Donald Ramotar-led administration signed over the awards for the blocks.

Ramotar has since claimed that he had no knowledge that Guyana had oil before awarding the blocks, but sources within SARA are continuing with the investigation, as they view the sequential occurrences as “suspicious”.

Speaking on the issue, in relation to the recent efforts to discredit him, Dr Mangal said: “Please note that Mr. Robin Singh only started his accusations after my long efforts to disclose the grand fraud of the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks became international news, and after SARA took an interest in the fraud. Was this because I challenged his PPP friends who awarded these two oil blocks to non-entities?”

At this stage, no-one knows how long the investigation will take.

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