$20,000 allowance to ensure accurate measurements of oil shameful

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, finds it absolutely shameful that the government is paying officials from the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), a meager $20,000 allowance to ensure accurate measurements of oil on the Liza Destiny, Guyana’s first Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.

His comments in this regard were in response to a question this newspaper posed to him during a press conference that was held at his Church Street office, last week.
Jagdeo was asked to state if he is disappointed that the officials are being paid such a paltry sum and if it would therefore, open the floodgates to incentives for corruption.

The Opposition Leader, in registering his disappointment with the situation, reminded that the government has the audacity to borrow US$20M from the World Bank to pay international consultants large sums of money to give advice and produce reports on the sector but does not cater the same way for locals.
He stressed that this is just another manifestation of the government’s failure to protect its people while making reference to the absence of a long awaited Local Content Policy.

Kaieteur News would have published last week, the advice of University of Houston Instructor, Tom Mitro, who intimated that as Guyana embarks on the development of its oil resources proper compensation for the guardians of the new found wealth must not be overlooked.
The official who has over 30 years’ experience in the oil sector stressed that the key agencies, which have to regulate the oil sector have the crucial task of keeping corruption at bay.

“Therefore, the importance of paying competitive compensation to key Government agencies involved with oversight should not be overlooked; it serves as a means of not only attracting and retaining the most qualified people but as a means of minimising incentives for corruption,” the official had said.