…says Dr. Bynoe has intelligence, experience to manage sector

PRESIDENT David Granger says that his pick to head the newly created Department of Energy Dr. Mark Bynoe has the necessary intelligence and experience to best manage the impending oil sector.

The President made these remarks on Thursday at State House when he was questioned by the media about Bynoe’s seeming non-experience in the petroleum sector. In response he stated: “We had been researching and we decided on a person who is experienced not necessarily in petroleum but who has the intelligence and the experience to find people who are experienced and who can administer that important industry,” President Granger said. Critics of the government have already lined up to discredit the appointment of Dr. Bynoe.

But on social media, former Minister of Natural Resources under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Robert Persaud said Dr. Bynoe’s appointment is welcomed. “Based on my interactions–in my capacity as a government minister–with Dr. Bynoe, I have always found him to be a consummate professional with a deep sense of commitment to country and the tasks before him. His academic qualifications and wide professional experience speak for themselves and need no elaboration.”

Persaud chided utterances by many which suggest that Dr. Bynoe lacks the requisite experience to head the department as Guyana prepares for first-oil in the first quarter of 2020. “He’s a young, brilliant Guyanese and we all must be proud that we can find someone, amongst us, who can be tasked with this responsibility. Unlike a few ‘experts’ (who now populate the newspapers with their advice and doomsday predictions) and were away for decades enjoying their cushy jobs, (as is their right) including with oil majors and did little or nothing in the initial period when we were preparing for a sustainable oil-and-gas sector, Dr. Bynoe was offering his expertise in moulding environmental and natural resources professionals at UG, among other contributions,” the former minister stated.
He added that it is important that Guyanese be given an equal opportunity to contribute to a sector that is new. “We must be able to give our own a chance, rather than rushing to doubt their skills and abilities to rise to the occasion,” Persaud stated, while cautioning that the success of Dr. Bynoe and his department is dependent on “how involved all stakeholders will be and given an opportunity to contribute to the success of the management of Guyana’s oil-and-gas sector.”

Finding the right people
President Granger said of Dr. Bynoe “he knows he doesn’t do everything but he knows where to find people who know enough to make that sector functional and we feel that he is a fit and proper person to do that.”

The Department of Energy was gazetted with effect from August 1st, 2018 which means that its responsibility was formally transferred from the Ministry of Natural Resources to the Ministry of the Presidency. This transfer comes following the recommendation of Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman which led to Cabinet’s examining of the state of the industry for the last seven months.

Bynoe will now take over the duties of the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Petroleum Unit and has the responsibility of embarking on a “four phase programme” for the establishment of the department.

The first two phases include an administration through which Bynoe will assemble a team to work in the department and rationalisation which will ensure the efficiency of the new department.

Speaking on the second phase, the President said: “There is a Petroleum Unit in the Ministry of Natural Resources and there may be other persons in the Government of Guyana right now who have experience in that sector, so some parts of some ministries may have to be transferred to the Department of Energy.”

The third stage includes the operationalisation of the department while the final stage of implementation, the President predicts, will begin by the beginning of September. “A lot of work has to be done. We have to advertise for experts all over the world and we have to look at drafting legislation, we have to look at financing and we have to look at all other aspects of the operationalisation of the department,” he added.

President Granger hopes that during the month of August the parties working to achieve this will accomplish much more than they were able to in that last seven months.

Bynoe is an Environment and Resource Economist and the former head of the Project Development and Management Unit of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC). He is the holder of several academic degrees including a Doctorate, Master and Bachelor’s degree as well as a Postgraduate Diploma and other certificates mainly in the areas of Environmental Economics, Resource Management and Monitoring and Evaluation. In his position as head of the Department of Energy he will receive direct guidance from the President as he works to place specialised attention on the petroleum sector and the management of its resources.