Cost of Exxon’s new office facility is necessary, not an added burden on Guyanese taxpayers

REFERENCE is made to a letter in the February 18, 2023 edition of the Stabroek News with the caption, “The Exxon HQ budget is an added burden on the backs of Guyanese”, by opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Ganesh Mahipaul.

The Opposition MP contended that the cost for the facility, which is an estimated US$160 million, is outrageous to be “footed by the Guyanese taxpayer”, blatant abuse of power, and a disregard for the Guyanese people’s struggles, among other things.

In order to determine whether indeed the estimated cost is exorbitant, it would be prudent to ascertain the cost per square footage based on the size of the facility and compare same to other similar commercial construction projects and /or related facilities being undertaken currently.

In this regard, the table illustrates two publicly known construction projects, namely, the Pegasus Suites and the Vreed-En-Hoop Shorebase project.

Based on the publicly known particulars of these three projects, the Pegasus Suites cost per square-footage is the highest at US$435 per sq. ft representing more than two times the cost for the

Exxon-facility; while the Vreed-En-Hoop Shorebase which is a combination of a commercial and industrial development is lower at US$344 per sq. ft representing 1.7 times the cost of the Exxon-facility.

It is of critical importance to understand the various sources of government funding. To this end, there is revenue generated from taxes to the national treasury and there is also non-tax revenue.

Oftentimes, contentious financial issues in the oil and gas industry are equated to taxpayers funding. Case in point, the argument put forward by the opposition M.P that the cost of the facility will be a burden on taxpayers is matter-of-factly a false perception. Simply put, Guyanese taxpayers invested zero dollar into the oil and gas