Villagers in this tiny coastal community lined up on the soggy grass, leaned into the microphone and shared their grievances as someone in the crowd yelled, “Speak the truth!” Know more:
ANN’S GROVE, Guyana—Villagers in this tiny coastal community lined up on the soggy grass, leaned into the microphone and shared their grievances as someone in the crowd yelled, “Speak the truth!”
Change is already visible in this country, which has a rich Caribbean culture and was once known as the “Venice of the West Indies.” Guyana is crisscrossed by canals and dotted with villages called “Now or Never” and “Free and Easy” that now co-exist with gated communities with names like “Windsor Estates.” In the capital, Georgetown, buildings made of glass, steel and concrete rise above colonial-era wooden structures, with shuttered sash windows, that are slowly decaying.
“Guyana’s political instability raises concerns that the country is unprepared for its newfound wealth without a plan to manage the new revenue and equitably disburse the financial benefits,” according to a USAID report that acknowledged the country’s deep ethnic rivalries. The transformation has lured back Guyanese such as Andrew Rampersaud, a 50-year-old goldsmith who left Trinidad last July with his wife and four daughters, encouraged by changes he saw in his country.
“I expected a better life since the drilling began,” said Felasha Duncan, a 36-year-old mother of three who spoke as she got bright pink extensions braided into her hair at an open-air salon. Greeting students was Sherry Thompson, 43, a former hospital switchboard operator and manager of a local inn who joined a company that provides services such as transportation for vice presidents of major oil companies.Jobs like hers have become plentiful, but it’s rare to find Guyanese working directly in the oil industry.
Three years after the 2015 oil discovery, a political crisis erupted in Guyana, which is dominated by two main parties: the Indo-Guyanese People’s Progressive Party and the Afro-Guyanese People’s National Congress, which formed a coalition with other parties. The contract dictates that Guyana would receive 50 percent of the profits, compared with other deals in which Brazil obtained 61 percent and the US 40 percent, according to Rystad Energy. But many have criticized that Guyana would only earn 2 percent royalties, something Jagdeo said the current government would seek to increase to 10 for future deals.
AP reached out to ExxonMobil for comment about how it handled the deal in Guyana and environmental concerns. Through company spokeswoman Meghan Macdonald, ExxonMobil’s top official in Guyana agreed to an interview. But Macdonald repeatedly canceled, and the company offered no other comment to AP.
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