Dear Editor,
THE People United and General Workers Union (PU&GWU) sees the move by the APNU+AFC Government to review the 1999 ExxonMobil contract as an excellent and clever move, and the Government should be applauded and fully complimented for such a move, since the Government will have opportunity to make new proposals that can modify, improve and remove any deficiency that the current contract may contain.The current contract was made between ExxonMobil and the former PPP/C Government since 1999 (over 17 years ago). We are now in the year 2016, and we have a new Government which has the full right to review and make changes to any contract that was signed by the previous administration.

Moreover, from the time that that contract was made to this year 2016, the price and other conditions obtaining in the global oil market have changed.

For example: Venezuela surpassed Saudi Arabia last year to become the holder of the largest oil reserves in the world, but Venezuela is facing serious economic crises. Having oil is one thing, but managing it productively in a sustainable manner is another thing.

The APNU+AFC Government needs to deeply consider these realities that obtain in the oil market, including the mentioned Venezuela situation, during the review process of the ExxonMobil contract.

Editor, the PU&GWU is, without the shadow of a doubt, confident that the contract needs to be reviewed and modified to accommodate and include the following:(a) The Government draft proposal should provide for ExxonMobil to finance and establish a school in Guyana that will teach, train and equip Guyanese with certificates that will qualified them to be employed with ExxonMobil when the company goes into full operation.

(b) The Government draft should include the percentage of Guyanese that would be employed with the company, as against how many expatriates would be employed. For example, Guyanese should at all times be the higher percentage of employees to be employed with the company.

(c)  The Government draft should include a clause that provides for Guyanese to be paid according to international rates, benefits, working conditions, and safety standards etc.

(d) The Government draft should include all international requirements that an oil rig company has to meet to conduct operations in the oil industry etc.

Editor, When ExxonMobil goes into full operation and production, most of the oil produced by the company may have to be shipped to overseas markets. As such, the APNU+AFC Government should, without any hesitation, swiftly move to establish a deepwater harbour in the Berbice River, which is an essential point-of-transit for incoming people and goods.

Primarily, deepwater harbours are fundamental to the movement of exports and imports from and to a country.
In the Caribbean, the port of Bridgetown in Barbados has immensely increased trade activities in the island, and has drastically boosted the tourism sector.
Barbados’s deepwater harbour now acts as a home port for many of the British-based cruise shipping lines operating in the Caribbean region, directly impacting the tourism sector and ultimately the economy, owing to the revenue generated from tourists, who are almost always willing to spend.

The deepwater harbour would not just benefit the ExxonMobil Company to transship its oil produce, but would also improve the maritime sector in Guyana and boost business in the shipping sector; generate revenue to the country’s economy; create jobs for Guyanese; and strengthen, improve and qualify Guyana’s port to meet international safety and security standards etc.

Ministry of Social Protection’s Labour Department and Guyana maritime sector need to be equipped with safety officers who are knowledgeable and qualified experts in relation to safety on oil rigs, so they can highlight breaches of any safety rules or laws which can endanger the lives of workers etc.

In closing, the People United and General Workers Union wishes to state that if the APNU+AFC Government doesn’t manage Guyana’s resources properly, and doesn’t sign good contracts with foreign companies operating in Guyana (such as ExxonMobil), Guyana can end up in a crisis just like Venezuela, and Guyana will continue to remain a Third World country etc.

Please feel free to make contact with me on my lister cell# or email address for any further information that you may need.
Yours truly,
MICAH WILLIAMS
General Secretary
The People United and General Workers Union
Cell#592-672-5802
Email: micahalister@yahoo.com /peopleunitegwunion@yahoo.com