Head, Dr Mark Bynoe
…Harmon says of appointment of new Energy Dept head
The appointment of an economist to head the fledgling Department of Energy, which will have responsibility for Guyana’s new oil and gas sector, has already started to raise eyebrows.
Some have opined that a known expert in the oil sector should have been appointed.
The individual, who was named in the State media on Wednesday as Dr Mark Bynoe, is an environment and resource economist. When contacted on Wednesday and asked specifically whether the position was advertised, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon would only say that President David Granger made the appointment.
“He was hired by Government; in fact, it is the President’s decision,” Harmon noted. “The Department of Energy was created and we (needed to appoint) someone who would head it. So the President appointed Dr Bynoe to head the Department.”
Harmon related that the President would have taken into account the different factors before making his decision. The Minister noted that President Granger would have made a determination that Bynoe suited the requirements of the job.
“I’m sure he would have taken all those factors into consideration when making the appointment that this is the person that suits the requirements for the job. That is the President’s determination,” Harmon related.
According to the State media article, Dr Bynoe is a former Director of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (formerly Environmental Studies Unit) of the University of Guyana and is the holder of a Doctorate in Economics (Environmental Economics) from the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom.
He is also listed as having a Master’s Degree in Resource Management, University of Edinburgh, Scotland; a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Studies, University of Guyana; a BA in Geography/Economics (Double Major) from the University of Guyana; a Certificate in Environmental Economics and Policy Analysis, Harvard Institute of International Development, Harvard University, United States of America; and a Certificate in Programme Monitoring and Evaluation hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat, St George’s University in Grenada.
In the State media article, Harmon was quoted saying that “he has actually been appointed… the President did introduce him to the quintet of Ministers responsible for oil and gas”. It was also stated in the article that Dr Bynoe would take up his new duties from August 1, 2018.
Government had announced its intention in April of this year to take responsibility for the oil sector from Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman, following a proposal he made.
Trotman himself had made the announcement in a taped interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI), in which he said, “Government will, in the coming months, establish the Department of Energy, which will be housed in the Ministry of the Presidency.”
Trotman said also that the Department would be “focused only on the development of the petroleum sector”, based on a proposal that he had made to President David Granger last year. Trotman, and indeed the Government, has received much criticism for the way the budding oil sector was being handled.
Minister Harmon has been designated the holder of ministerial responsibility for this department. He announced the creation of the Energy Department to oversee Guyana’s oil and gas sector the next month.
