– Head of the Department of Energy

HEAD of the Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe, informed a gathering of young people from the National Youth Corps that it was envisioned that the oil revenues garnered will be used to fund “sustainable pathways” for Guyana’s development.

While engaging the young people on the developing oil and gas industry at the Kuru Kuru Training Centre, Dr. Bynoe was questioned as to what the oil revenues garnered will be used to fund.

One young man suggested that the revenues be used to fund the agricultural sector and that the government should provide grants for young people and institutions that would encourage them to “plant more food.”

In response, Dr. Bynoe stated: “Our objective is to use the oil revenues now to place us on a more sustainable development pathway going forward.”

He explained that the government is aiming to- through the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS)- transition into these “sustainable pathways” by promoting the use of more renewable energy, including hydropower, solar and wind energy and also possibly, thermal and geothermal energy.

Dr Bynoe also reminded the gathering that Guyana’s main industries- bauxite, gold and agriculture- are largely primary industries. The oil revenues would potentially be used to transform these into secondary industries- with greater focus on creating value-added products, he said.

And according to him, the GSDS will be used as the catalyst for development to occur in Guyana; this is a move that is expected to safeguard the country from the infamous ‘Dutch Disease’.

“It is not a disease as per say, but it means that if we do not concentrate on encouraging investment in other sectors, most people will leave those sectors and pursue initiatives in oil and gas…. What that does is cause a crowding out of investment in those sectors and ultimately, their depletion if not death,” he explained.

According to Bynoe, flourishing sectors such as agriculture or tourism could be negatively impacted if careful stewardship is not used to ensure that the oil and gas industry does not become the sole productive industry for the country.

“What we have been seeking to encourage is [the development] of areas where we can bring relatively cheap energy,” he said. So for example, this plan can be used to expand agricultural production but also foster the growth and development of agro-processing, Bynoe explained.

However, responding directly to the suggestion of the provision of grants, he said that that was something ‘above his pay grade’ and as such, he could not pronounce on that.

“My dream and my expectation is that even though oil and gas will expire, or it will be exhausted, it doesn’t mean that Guyana will not have other areas in which to grow,” he said however.

In Guyana’s Stabroek block alone, there have been, so far, 13 discoveries which are expected to yield in excess of 5.5B barrels of recoverable oil.

This newspaper reported, in March, that Guyana ‘raked’ in over US$75 million in 2018, directly from local content in the oil and gas sector. And this figure excludes downstream impacts of the industry such as works in mechanics, electrical work, welding and technical warehousing, among others.