– former PPP/C minister tries to play down SARA probe

PRESSURE mounts on former People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Minister of Natural Resources Robert Persaud to answer for the awarding of key oil blocks under his watch as he took to social media on Sunday to distance himself from the ongoing investigations.
Persaud, in defending himself as above board, attempted to smear the investigations being conducted by the local State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) as an “election propaganda campaign.”

Since May month-end, news broke of the investigation into the awarding of oil blocks offshore Guyana to “junior” companies.

Several exploration companies are to be probed and former PPP officials involved have been closely watching things unfold.

On the other end, members of the Guyanese public, though non-specialists in the oil and gas sector, have been questioning whether they have indeed been shortchanged.

Former PPP President Donald Ramotar has claimed that he had no knowledge that Guyana had oil before awarding the blocks, just before the 2015 General and Regional Elections to exploration companies criticised as having little knowledge in deep-water exploration.
The awarding of the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks, now raising many eyebrows, are in ultra-deep water, which means they are deeper than where Exxon has found oil.

On Sunday, like JHI Associates Inc. (JHI) and Mid Atlantic Oil & Gas Inc. (MOGI) holding17.5 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively in the Canje Block, Persaud stated that the awarding processes was “transparent” and “in full conformity with all relevant laws and regulations.”

Yet, part of SARA’s investigation will determine whether the above- mentioned companies, along with Ratio Guyana, are in breach of their Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL) agreement.

According to the Petroleum Agreement signed by Ramotar on April, 28 2015 and seen by this newspaper, Ratio’s PPL expired on April 28, 2019.

Investigations will reveal whether Ratio Guyana, which holds 25 per cent share in the Kaieteur Block, and other companies being probed met the necessary prospecting operations in the contracted area over the four-year period.

SARA is investigating other contradictions in the information being presented by the former players as one of the companies involved was registered only in May 2015, the same month as the General Elections which put the opposition out of government.

As many questions pile up, Persaud’s remarks were the most recent to come from the opposition which has sought to deride the investigation as politically motivated.
“…I will not be dragged into what is patently an elections propaganda campaign issue by a politically controlled state agency and being promoted by sections of the media and so-called oil and gas ‘experts’ and ‘advisers’,” the former minister of natural resources stated.
“The PPP/C’s achievements and unwavering determination in laying the foundations for Guyana to be an oil-producing nation has been both stellar and transparent, as well as in full conformity with all relevant laws and regulations.”

Yet, international news agencies such as Bloomberg and others have individually noted that “rights to drill the area were awarded during the final days of Ramotar’s term” and “nine days after the Kaieteur lease was signed, the government announced that Exxon had struck oil in a well called Liza-1”.

Meanwhile, certain members of the public and the opposition have been calling for independent investigators to pursue the matter, as they fear a mixing of political influences with the eventual findings.

However, through this newspaper, an informed source reminded that despite the evidence SARA may or may not uncover, it is the courts which ultimately decide what becomes of entities involved in fraud.

This, the source stated, eliminates the slant being peddled in some parts of the media that the Assets Recovery Agency can prosecute whom they please for personal reasons.
“Everything we do has to go to a judge,” the source said. “The private sector has tried to confuse the public about what we do. We do not arrest anyone. We’re not a criminal group. We take the evidence and we take it to a court as we did with the eight cases on Pradoville that are in front of the court. We cannot judge; so it’s been a big lie that we can go and infringe on people’s constitutional rights.”

Once again, identical to JHI and Mid-Atlantic, Persaud stated on Sunday that he has not yet been contacted by SARA or any other entity regarding the issue of oil blocks awards.
The source stated that this is simply because the agency is not yet ready to do so, but such will be the case soon enough.

Persaud disclosed, too, that he has been in contact with Head of the Department of Energy Dr Mark Bynoe and makes himself available for clarification on policy decisions taken under his former portfolio.

As regards the probe, SARA is likely to seek external help to bolster its investigation.
Sources indicate that it has a well qualified pool of individuals and organisations from which to choose.