MINISTER of Natural resources Raphael Trotman, on August 28, 2019, hosted a community outreach at the West Demerara Secondary School. The outreach was hosted in an effort to give residents of the area the chance to speak, face to face, with the minister and bring their issues to be addressed.

Trotman opened the meeting by reminding the residents that, contrary to what they may have been seeing and hearing, the government is serving the country well within its legal parameters.

“At the end of the day the country has a government, and the government has a president, there’s a cabinet, there’s a judiciary, there’s a parliament, all of that is in tack.
The government has been following instructions being given to it by the courts that govern Guyana. It has been adhering to all legal decisions by the court,” said Trotman.
Trotman further went on to say that the government is not afraid of hosting the election as long as it is done in a credible manner.

Resident and Head Teacher of the West Demerara High School, Mr. Harrinarine, asked the minister what the government plans to implement to ensure that the students are given the opportunity to learn more about the oil and gas sector.

He went on to state that the school is in need of a donation of a pair of steel pans to the West Demerara High School’s Steel Pan Orchestra, which has just recently placed second in the national steel pan competition “panorama”. Trotman made arrangements with the Head Master to get the musical equipment donated to the school.

The minister responded saying that the government of Guyana has received some USD $20 M from the World Bank for the education sector’s preparedness to dealing with oil and gas.
He also expressed his interest in getting Dr. Mark Bynoe of the Department Of Energy to come to the school as a resource person to host talks and educate the children in the oil and gas sector.

He further reminded the audience that the oil and gas sector will open up a number of other sectors, such as hospitality, real estate and infrastructure, that would enable the citizens of Guyana to be able to obtain gainful and fruitful employment. He explained that just recently he saw an estimate that suggested that there was need for the construction of some 3000 homes for persons who will be joining Guyana’s oil and gas sector and that the need for such will demand labour and thus provide jobs for Guyanese.

Another resident, Mark Wong, asked what the Ministry of Natural Resources along with the government aims to do in an effort to protect the country form the Dutch disease better known as resource curse. The resident also asked the minister to speak on any initiative the government is considering in relation to the Demerara Harbour Bridge.

The minister stated that the ministry was setting systems in place to protect against the Dutch Disease. It was ensuring that persons do not completely flood the oil and gas sector and neglect the other sectors. He reminded the members of the audience that they would need to be within the other sectors to ensure that Guyana does not depend solely on the oil and gas sector.

He explained that that was one of the main reasons for neighboring Venezuela being in its currents state. Everyone flooded the oil and gas sector and neglected to develop the other sectors.

He further stated that the IMF and World Bank have all put systems in place to ensure that Guyana does not direct all its resources toward the oil and gas sector; and that it focuses on the other sectors also.

The minister further related that the government has been in talks for a new design for the Demerara Harbour Bridge. That new design, according to Trotman, will see a tri-lane system so as to cut down on the waiting time on the bridge linking Regions 3 and 4.
When asked about Guyana’s preparedness for protecting the country, Trotman said that Guyana has positioned itself in such a way that it has garnered the support of powerful allies who have vested interest in protecting Guyana.

Two of those allies being the United States and London who both have major oil and gas companies which have already invested millions into drilling in Guyana and would stand to lose if Guyana was to lose control of its territory.

Residents also made mention of infrastructural issues, like the state of the roads, broken bridges and drainage issues. Trotman related to the residents that he has noted their concerns and that he will pass the information onto the Minister of Public infrastructure.
Trotman, however, promised the residents to help them with the drainage issue they have been experiencing by mobilizing the residents to band together and organize themselves into a group to remove the plants and other particles from the drains and to create, with approval from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, a way to channel the water out of the stagnant drain.

He further explained that once the community gives him the information on how many persons would be involved in the activity, he would negotiate a small stipend.