A decision taken by the Government to strip Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman of his responsibility for the oil and gas sector has raised many eyebrows, but Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo believes that there might be a specific reason why such a move was taken.
Bharrat Jagdeo
Jagdeo told Guyana Times International on Wednesday that President David Granger should “come clean” and state what exactly caused him to make such a decision to have the responsibility for the oil and gas sector placed under the Ministry of the Presidency instead, which is headed by Minister of State Joseph Harmon.
“What did he (David Granger) discover that caused him to take away the portfolio from (Raphael) Trotman and he needs to come clean with the country. Don’t cover it up!” Jagdeo stated.
The announcement of Trotman being stripped of his responsibilities for oil was made in a taped interview with the Department of Public Information, where 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 will be “focused only on the development of the petroleum sector,” based on a proposal that he made to President David Granger last year.
“Eventually, the expectation is that the Ministry of Natural Resources will hand over responsibility of the function of petroleum to this department and we will see a more direct and focused mandate from this Department of Energy and we will, of course, as a Cabinet be supporting the Department.”
This decision was handed down at Cabinet’s meeting on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, Trotman has been appointed head of the task force which will be responsible for submitting to Cabinet a proposal on how the Department of Energy is to be structured and staffed.
“This task force will be meeting and will make a proposal to Cabinet as to how the new department of energy will be comprised, staff and what its mandate will be,” Trotman said.
Besides this, there have been calls in the past to have Trotman removed from his position as Minister, especially when it was discovered that Government stashed US$18 million in a private account in the Central Bank, which it received from ExxonMobil as a signing bonus.
Though this discovery was made since last year, the Government has made no attempts to have the money placed into the Consolidated Fund. Many have argued that Article 216 of the Guyana Constitution dictates that all public revenue be placed in the Consolidated Fund with the exception being where a specific law allows for the money to be placed in a special account.
Trotman was also criticised for his handling of the oil contracts between Government and ExxonMobil. Even the Government’s own adviser on petroleum, Dr Jan Mangal has criticised Guyana’s two per cent royalty on earnings from ExxonMobil’s oil sales, which he said is low, compared to global standards.
While Dr Mangal is not in disagreement with 50-50 per cent profit share Guyana will receive, he does believe that the zero tax, and two per cent royalty is nothing to boast about.
Others have also come out criticising Trotman, including outspoken political commentator and Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram, who believes that Trotman’s handling of the oil sector could lead to future disaster. He has said repeatedly that the Minister is not competent for the job.
