Port of Spain – With the nomination by the government of Madam Justice Paula Mae Weekes to the role as the nation’s president and the support of the opposition United National Congress, Trinidad and Tobago now has its first female President designate who would be replacing President Anthony Carmona in that substantive role.
Legal and political analysts, and the usual rising swell of social media users, have been extolling the move as a proud moment for the nation. It is also being described as an ideal and wise choice made by Prime Minister Keith Rowley and his government.
Opposition Leader Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she has full confidence in Mae Weekes and trusts that government made the right decision.
Last Friday the Prime Minister met with the Opposition Leader to discuss the presidential nominee following which Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young announced Weekes as the government’s sole nominee.
The Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action had called last week for a woman president. However, Young said the government made its choice long before CAFRA made its call.
Young said the PNM was a responsible government, and did not wait for the last minute to locate a candidate. Young noted Weekes has had a stellar career as a jurist in Trinidad and Tobago, rising to the highest level which is the Court of Appeal where she served for approximately 11 years as an appellate judge.
He added Weekes started her schooling at Bishop Anstey High School and then went on to The University of the West Indies. She had an accomplished professional career at the Office of the Director of Prosecutions, following which she spent a short time in private practice.
Young said Weekes retired from the Court of Appeal in 2016 and then went on to serve as a court of appeal judge in the Turks and Caicos. He said when contacted, Weekes accepted to be the next Trinidad and Tobago president.
“Thankfully and appreciatively, as a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, Madam Justice Paula Mae Weekes has heeded the call for public service and has agreed when the government approached her to make herself available, and she is most willing to put herself forward as a candidate and to be nominated as a candidate for the election to be the next president of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. Young thanked Carmona, who will demit office on March 18, for his service to country.
Weekes was called to the bar in 1982; she was the fifth woman to be appointed a judge of the High Court in Trinidad and Tobago. In August 2012, the Judiciary announced she would act as chief justice in the absence of CJ Ivor Archie. It was the first time she performed the function of this office as she was the most senior of the appellate judges in the jurisdiction.
Commenting on the government’s move, Persad-Bissessar said the UNC would not oppose Weekes as the next president.
“We are not dissatisfied with the nominee; the Opposition will not oppose the nominee,” she said. Persad-Bissessar noted she was happy to hear the Prime Minister indicate that Weekes was not chosen because she is a woman, but because she is capable and competent.
When Weekes’ name was put forward, Persad-Bissessar remarked it was “interesting” the nominee was a woman.
“The Prime Minister said, ‘Yes, but it's not only because she is a woman’. It’s not just about being a woman, but we are always happy when women are given their rightful places alongside their brothers. That's always a good thing. It's a good thing when women and men are considered, and I was very happy to hear [Rowley] say it’s not just because she's a woman, but because she is competent and capable,” she said.
offshore Guyana
But Guyana’s well known Chartered Accountant and Attorney-at-law, Chris Ram believes that the latest oil find by ExxonMobil is not a reason to rejoice, but one to weep.
Ram stated there is no reason to be exulting when Guyana is saddled with a lopsided contract which the government allowed to be imposed on the nation in 2016. Ram said this means that the share of the natural resources is necessarily circumscribed by the terms and conditions of that agreement which includes a number of illegalities.
After reviewing the contract, the auditor opined that Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman displayed complete disregard for Guyana’s laws. Ram asserts that the Minister takes “legal gymnastics” to new levels.
Ram said that the Petroleum contract makes mention of a “Bridging Deed.” The purpose of this agreement is to replace the 1999 Agreement and the 1999 Petroleum Prospecting Licence.
“Readers will recall that then President Janet Jagan signed the 1999 Agreement in violation of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act (the Act) to the extent that the company (Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited) was granted approximately 600 blocks instead of the 60 blocks permitted by law.”
The Chartered Accountant continued: “The 1999 Agreement and Prospecting Licence appears to have been contained in a single package and included a full description of the blocks and a map of the area allotted to the oil company. The 2016 Agreement merely states that on that date, Minister Trotman granted a Petroleum Prospecting Licence for an initial period of four years.”
Ram added, “In other words, the whole idea of Mr. Trotman was to pretend that the 1999 Agreement never existed. Trotman has to be given credit – This takes legal gymnastics to a completely new level.
Trotman obviously decided to complete the concealment of the 2016 Agreement by failing to comply with Section 16 (2) of the Act.” Section 16(2) of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act states: “The Minister, shall, as soon as may be practicable after a licence has been granted, cause notice of that fact to be published in the Gazette stating the name of the licensee and the situation of the land in respect of which the licence has been granted.”
The Attorney-at-law told the media that Trotman failed to observe this aspect of the law. That is a worrying precedence, he added.
The auditor added, “Did Trotman decide that he could bypass the provisions of the legislation and do as he chooses? Clearly, he does not consider himself bound by any laws, and is free to violate them as he chooses.”
Ram also stated that a prospecting licence can only be granted on the basis of an application made in accordance with the Act. He said that the application must contain a whole range of information as prescribed by the Act and Regulations, including proposals for local content in terms of employment and the procurement of goods and services.
Ram identified another worrying part of the agreement.
“ExxonMobil has the upper hand because it has an agreement which says that the laws of Guyana only play a secondary role because it must now be consistent with the rules of international law and customs and usages of the international petroleum industry. Now who set up those customs and usages? Obviously, it is the oil companies themselves.”
He continued, “If one looks at Article 1.5 of the Agreement it says, ‘the provisions of the Act and regulations dealing with rights and obligations of the contractor shall be read as part of but not nullify the provisions of this agreement and any licence issued to the contractor.’
In other words, even if the licence and the agreement are inconsistent with the law, the law and regulations cannot nullify the contract. But that is unlawful…”
Ram added, “…So for me, the new oil find, when I hear about it, I don’t exult; I weep because it is not being developed for us but for the international oil operators. I notice that Trotman was excited but I thought that is for Exxon and their shareholders and employees…”
The Chartered Accountant said that ExxonMobil exploited the poor negotiating skills of the Guyana team and the inadequacies of Trotman. He said, too, that a number of environmental issues remain unaddressed yet there continues to be praises coming from the Government camp.
Meanwhile, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) of Guyana made a recent call for the Government of Guyana to hire better negotiators for future contracts. The Commission made this call after a detailed review of the Petroleum Agreement between ExxonMobil, Hess Corporation and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and the Government.
The Commission said that while it believes that the disclosure of the Agreement bodes well for a transparent and accountable oil and gas industry, several concerns rise to the surface.
As an initial commentary, it is the opinion of the PSC that much more could have been done to incorporate more local content provisions into the agreement. In addition, the Commission said it expected greater benefits would have accrued to local businesses as a result of the agreement.
The Commission also made reference to the findings made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in relation to the agreement. The IMF had highlighted that there were no provisions in the contract regarding ring-fencing.
This principle ensures that ExxonMobil is unable to transfer expenses from one well to another. As a result of this, the Commission noted that Guyana will be left to bear the costs of unsuccessful exploration.
A matter of great interest to the Commission is the fact that given the early stage of development, Guyana does not have the right to re-negotiate the terms of the Agreement.
The PSC noted that this is specified in Article 32 of the Agreement’s Stability Clause.
The Commission said, “We are concerned, since this Agreement encompasses the entire Stabroek Block, an area of 6.6 million acres of water with 3.2 billion barrels of equivalent oil so far. With the projected massive oil discoveries, we believe that there should be increased flexibility given to the Government of Guyana, to ensure a fair and equitable deal on both sides.
At present, the cost of energy is the primary limitation to the expansion of business and growth in Guyana. There is nothing in the Agreement to indicate that with Guyana owning such large oil reserves, this would translate into reduction of the costs of energy to Guyanese.”
The Commission continued, “The business sector and general populace of Guyana deserve to benefit directly from the abundance of oil at its disposal and we look forward to seeing future Agreements for other blocks offshore include provisions with greater benefits to Guyana and its people.”
The body added, “We also expect that for all other blocks offshore, the Agreements with operators/contractors will consist of provisions that will ensure Guyana receives more royalty, rents, training and development for Guyanese and better local benefits for all Guyanese through the enlisting of the services of world class negotiators who can competently negotiate with major oil companies.”
