A local newspaper’s Sunday edition story that expressed the publisher’s, Glenn Lall opinion that “disasters of the oil industry are unfolding in Guyana” prompted a recent response from the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Lall’s remark that the fishing industry has collapsed due to oil production, with fishermen failing to catch enough to pay costs and the nation being obliged to import fish, was acknowledged by the Ministry in a thorough, point-by-point rebuttal. The Ministry claims that in 2024, Guyana’s fishing sector grew by 1%. According to the Ministry, “While fish production faced minor contractions (-2.2%), marine shrimp production grew by 8.5%, and aquaculture production expanded by 13.7%, with brackish water shrimp production increasing by 19.1%.” It further said that in 2025, the fishing sector is expected to rise by 5.8%.
- Advertisement -
According to the Ministry, the other agricultural sub-sector rose by 10.9% in 2024 and is expected to grow by 11.7% in 2025, despite the Publisher’s assertion that local food is failing because of oil operations.
The publisher informed listeners on his radio show that the cattle industry had been destroyed. On the other hand, according to the Ministry, the cattle industry expanded by 24.6% in 2024 and is predicted to grow by 7.5% in 2025. “Growth was observed across all livestock categories, including poultry (31%), pork (35.3%), beef (6.9%), eggs (7.6%), and milk (6.4%). Improved poultry health was driven by vaccinations and reduced mortality rates.” the Ministry said. Vaccinations and lower mortality rates were the main causes of improved poultry health.
In contrast, the Ministry pointed out that oil earnings are funding vital infrastructure development, such as the enlargement of roads and bridges, refuting Lall’s claim that the oil industry is putting an undue burden on the infrastructure sector due to overweight cars.
Although some contractors have produced subpar work, the government maintained that there is no rational connection to the oil industry. It stated that the government is still dedicated to making sure Guyana’s infrastructure is robust and constructed to accommodate economic expansion, including demands from the oil and gas industry.
“This is a deliberate misrepresentation,” Lall said, adding that the government has obviously refused to disclose how oil revenues are used. “Every dollar of oil revenue is accounted for within the National Budget, which is debated and approved in Parliament. Oil revenues are deposited into the Consolidated Fund, alongside other government revenues,” the Ministry said.
It further said that budget forecasts and expenditure plans are made accessible to the public, item by item, and asserted that Lall’s allegation that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo “doesn’t have to tell the nation how oil money is spent” is untrue. “The Vice President simply explained that because funds are pooled into the National Budget, expenditures are not itemized by revenue source, but all spending is transparently recorded,” the Ministry stated.
The Ministry contended that the Publisher’s assertion that records are being concealed and that the Gas-to-Energy project is a “debt trap” is untrue.
It pointed out that the project’s financing conditions are open to the public and have been extensively covered, notably by the newspaper. The Ministry was anxious to see, “The arbitration process involving a contractor is a normal contractual procedure and does not indicate failure. The government and the contractor remain committed to project completion, and allegations of secrecy are baseless.”
The newspaper publisher, for his part, stated that children are fainting in classes and that residents are suffering from intolerable heat as a result of gas flares offshore. They are now compelled to go about with fans in their faces.
However, the ministry pointed out that the publisher’s assertion lacks any scientific support. “Guyana, like the rest of the world, experiences seasonal temperature variations due to climate change and global weather patterns,” the explanation read instead.
The Ministry clarified that disaster assessments are a standard component of ExxonMobil’s Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), which pertain to tsunamis. Therefore, it stated that this does not imply that Guyana is in grave danger of a tsunami.
“The likelihood of a tsunami impacting Guyana is extremely low, given its distance from seismic zones, which is an indicator of tsunami risk,” the Ministry stated.
According to the publisher scheme, Guyana has already lost up to US$20 billion as a result of not ring-fencing the Stabroek Block projects. The Ministry of Natural Resources explained, “Ring-fencing is an accounting mechanism. Without it, oil companies can recover expenses across multiple projects, even before certain projects have started production. This defers revenue to Guyana but does not eliminate it.”
Considering this, the government noted that Lall’s assertion that Guyana has lost $20 billion is purely fictitious and has no supporting evidence. Claims that Brazilian officials referred to Guyana as a “cheap prostitute” for its oil agreement were also denied.
