THE debate continues on what the next few years could look like for Guyana as we prepare to join the few countries that have been fortunate to discover oil and use it as the path to economic development. From all indications, the immediate future could be a transformative period for our country.

Already, many Guyanese are speculating that Guyana could be entering a period when we could well unlock the gates to the collective prosperity to which all ex-colonial countries aspire. It is indeed an overwhelming feeling for a country that is among the poorest in the Americas.

But as we have seen from the debates, the much-anticipated economic prosperity would not wipe away our decades of contentious politics nor would it immediately solve our economic woes. To the contrary, one could conclude that the coming of oil would exacerbate our divisive politics and that could have a negative impact on our capacity to successfully use the oil revenues to effect economic transformation.

The APNU+AFC Government is presently putting the necessary administrative and legislative frameworks in place to ensure the effective and efficient management of the oil-and-gas industry. President David Granger has assured that by the end of August, the Department of Energy would be established. A 10-point plan has been crafted to ensure the Department of Energy, which will fall under the Ministry of the Presidency, is effectively positioned to manage the potentially massive and transformative emerging petroleum sector.
The plan is aimed at ensuring that matters such as organisational structure, legislation and capacity-building measures are effectively addressed as Guyana works toward developing a world-class oil-and-gas industry.
The President said his government is open to recruiting technical experts locally, regionally and internationally through a highly competitive and transparent process to attract the most qualified and experienced professionals available.
Presently, the government is working assiduously to put legislative and regulatory frameworks in place, such as the crafting of the Petroleum Bill and a Sovereign Wealth Fund, to safeguard the oil-and-gas industry. Ahead of first-oil in 2020, the Work Bank in June approved a US$35M Development Policy Credit to strengthen Guyana’s financial sector and fiscal-management capabilities. In excess of 3.7 billion oil-equivalent barrels have been discovered in eight reservoirs: Liza, Payara, Liza Deep, Snoek, Turbot, Ranger, Pacora and most recently Longtail-1, and the World Bank wants to ensure that the country is well equipped to transform its oil wealth into human development.
In this regard, the opposition should rethink its strategy of relentless negativity. One gets the impression that most of the time, the opposition is more concerned with scoring political points rather than helping to improve the situation.
Over the last year, there has been no shortage of advice from local and international experts on how to avoid the pitfalls that accompany oil discovery.

Indeed, much of that advice comes against the backdrop of the vulnerability of our political economy and the perceived track record of the oil companies that are poised to dominate the industry. This is understandable given the experiences of countries and the sense of nationalism that accompanies oil discovery—the old debate about the extent to which countries benefit from their resources. Suffice to say that Guyana has in the past not satisfactorily negotiated the best deals for ourselves.

But even as we make that observation, we must strive for cooperation and consensus rather than confrontation with foreign investors.

While we must be forever vigilant, such vigilance should be balanced and constructive. After initially deciding not to publicly release the details of the contract with ExxonMobil, the government changed course late last year.
As it explained, notwithstanding its concerns about confidentiality clauses, the ultimate decision was guided by its commitment to transparency.

This government has been in office for just over three years of its designated five-year term. That is not a long time in the life of a government, especially one that succeeded a twenty-three-year regime. As should be expected, it has made its fair share of errors. But these should not be translated into strident charges of bad governance. In the end, we undermine our own cause by reaching for partisan imperatives.