OPINION: Oil spill (Exxon Exemption) bill: will Pres. Ali, or won’t he?

Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 May 2025, 21:27 by Writer

By GHK Lall

Will he, or will he not? That’s where all roads end with Guyana’s spanking new Oil Pollution Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Responsibility Bill passed in parliament. The power of the PPP Government’s one-seat majority delivers. The bill is long in title, and short in protecting Guyanese, shorter in its subservience to constitutional compliance, and international obligations. Tireless worker on behalf of Guyana’s interests, Attorney Melinda Janki pinpointed the shortcomings in the oil spill bill that awaits presidential assent. Ms. Janki has called on President Ali to withhold assent. I am fully with her, but am aware of where this is going, that inevitable stroke of the presidential pen.

As in the instance of another attorney, Mr. Christopher Ram, I admire attorney Janki’s interest in and insights on this country. And for the most part, the inputs of both, too. Mr. Ram went to work on that oil spill bill now waiting for the seal of assent, with a high-powered microscope and a scalpel. He tore it apart, from what was in it (the tricky language, misleading sheen,) to what was not in it (parent company insulation and exemption). I wish those would produce the one result that proves that Pres. Ali, the PPP Government, and Guyanese and their interests coalesce into an undivided ONE, an unbreakable oneness. What could be more indicative of One Guyana than presidential assent withheld? Holding one head, operating with one vision, driving towards one destiny.

Ms. Janki marshaled her reasons for withholding of presidential assent. They are formidable, carry considerable weight, should be listened to, earn the distinction of a presidential nod of agreement. She highlighted from the constitutional to the international. And to what is nothing but a not-so-well-disguised Government of Guyana protection racket (my words). This Exxon get-out-of-jail bill (and it is nothing else, not one damn thing else at its core) is the most blatant manifestation of the governmental-commercial conspiracy that Guyanese have ever seen, would ever see. In the New York of today, there are those ‘no bail, no jail’ situations from its raw streets that create so much carnage, so many citizen fears. But, at the least, those fingered have to turn up in court, have a hearing before a judge. In Guyana, and with ExxonMobil America (not that shell called Exxon Guyana), whatever the magnitude of a potential oil spill, ExxonMobil America has just been granted complete immunity from that oil spill bill. Forget about no court appearance, no claim can be made against it. In pure Brooklynese: no nuthin’. This is what the parade of PPP Government parliamentarians are proud of, ensured that they held down the offensive scents that took over them, during what passed for four hours of debate. Four hours over what could inflict 4 billion, or 40 billion, or as much as a horrifying 400 billion, should neighbors and their prime livelihood be devastated. One particular neighbor, more known for covetousness than friendliness, could go so far as to take the position that severe damage to their land and livelihood has occurred, and it is so intolerable as to qualify as an act of war.

From all appearances, there is evidence that the Guyana Government, the PPP Government, is not overly concerned about the bankruptcy of this country, or the insolvency of its destiny. I would say that the only thing that the PPP Government and PPP leadership is obsessed about is staying where they are. No experiment that troubles Exxon. No initiative that costs Exxon one dollar beyond its calculations. Neither energy nor courage nor commitment to national duty that causes Exxon to look at the PPP leadership with reservations. No tempting of the Fates, which means not pushing the Americans too far, or at all. This is the democracy in action of which John Hess of the Hess Corporation loves to prattle. History reminds Guyanese of the Native Americans, what was promised to them, done to them, and how they ended up.

So will President Ali, or won’t he assent to the oil spill bill, as tabled, recommended, by Ms. Janki? Though I endorse her call to the maximum, reality raises its warning head. Were Pres. Ali to withhold assent, it would be like the head-of-state issuing a no-confidence decision on his own government. I take this further: on his own leadership. For he could not be so far out to sea, as to be unconscious of its compilation, its last draft construction. The same could be said of Vice President Jagdeo, legal qualifications or not, who had to give it his vigilant review, his own final blessing. As Jagdeo goes, so does Attorney General Nandlall, who may hold this oil spill bill (the Exxon Exemption Provisions law) as one of his more prized products. With respect, Prime Minister Phillips, a Guyanese who was once responsible for defending Guyana’s territorial integrity, had the dirty duty of dismantling its last defenses. When he piloted that oil spill bill, he dropped the equivalent of a nuclear device on the face of all Guyanese.

It’s time for the last word. This oil spill bill was never about protection for Guyanese. It is all vested in the matter of political survival. I come full circle: presidential assent for the bill. Will President Ali, or won’t he? He will not withhold assent. For then what would he be? A traitor to his VP and AG and party machinery. For he would have interfered with ExxonMobil America’s present profitability and future prosperity. It is better, safer, to assent.