GUYANA, WITH ITS OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION, REMAINS A NET ZERO CARBON CONTRIBUTOR!

SINCE oil and gas were discovered in Guyana, a lobby, both in Guyana and abroad, has emerged critical of the exploitation of this resource, claiming it will poison the environment and, more particularly, would be releasing greenhouse gases which would quicken the onslaught of Climate Change.

Climate Change has very deleterious effects on the planet, causing destructive flooding in many parts of the world, desertification in other parts, and destruction of low island states like the Maldives or low-lying coastal regions like Guyana.

Agriculture and planting cycles become disrupted resulting in food shortages and increased prices for agricultural products. Guyana has already experienced some of the destructive effects of Climate Change and International Lawyer, Melinda Janki, part of the anti-oil lobby, has filed legal actions in the courts against the Government of Guyana and the oil companies to try to prevent further oil exploration and exploitation.

As against this lobby are those who posit that Guyana is a poor country mired in poverty without any hope and possibility of accessing enough developmental capital to develop its nonoil resources and help its population to emerge out of poverty. The exploitation of oil and gas resources is the only way Guyana could acquire enough capital to move out of poverty and to invest in present industries to expand them and make them more competitive and birth new ones. In this way, Guyana’s economic prosperity would be secured well into the future.

These two positions are antithetical, but the majority opinion has come down on the side of the necessity of developing the Oil and Gas industry.

The Government of the country, the opposition, the private sector and public opinion in general support the oil industry. They also point out that the oil-producing countries, especially those in the developed world, have no intention of ending or scaling back their oil industries and, whenever it is in their interest, pay scant regard to climate change. Yet these same countries are the ones that lecture countries like Guyana.

In a recent newspaper interview, Dr. Hyginus Leon, President of the Caribbean Development Bank and the Bank’s Director of Projects Dr. Daniel Best stated the dilemma between preserving and protecting the environment and exploiting the oil resources diminishing poverty and raising the standard of living.

Dr. Leon remarked that “Guyana finds itself with a constraint internationally which says we need to reduce fossil fuels because of what it is doing to the planet. . . With over 11 billion barrels of oil discovered so far offshore, Guyana, over the past few years, has faced questions over its aggressive Oil production against the backdrop of being a champion of Environmental preservation. . .” Dr. Leon’s advice is however very clear: “Where Guyana needs to go is very simple, it is to a point where the people of Guyana will have more prosperity than they had yesterday”. Dr. Best reinforces Dr. Leon’s advice: Oil will create wealth in Guyana. Now, how can we turn that into a sustainable livelihood and form an alliance on renewable energy and Climate Change? That is the crux of the matter.”

The Government of Guyana is very environment-conscious and committed to environmental protection. The lead Minister responsible for dealing with the oil and gas industry is Vice-President Dr. Bharat Jagdeo, a respected and honoured environmentalist, earning many accolades, among them being ‘Champion of the Earth’. They have accepted the challenge of successfully coalescing Environmental concerns with Oil and Gas production to make Guyana the only Oil-producing country where pollution of the environment is negated by several effective actions:

First, the oil companies are required by Law and agreements to take measures to protect the environment in their production process as far as is feasible. For example, polluted water must be treated before release into the ocean or indiscriminate flaring must be avoided.

Then there is the gas-to-shore project, which will come into

Celebrating Success

Local author receives 2022 Global Author Club and Business Award

By Dillon Goring

WHEN one has passion to achieve and accomplish a desired goal, one is relentless and persistent, and no matter the cost, one makes sure it is achievable.

This is the position of Guyanese self-published author Geary Reid, who has been awarded the prestigious Global Author Club and Business Award (TGAC & BA) for the year 2022! After being nominated in November, the award was officially presented on December 16 in the United Kingdom.

The Award was given to him, for his production of 92 books, with varying subject areas.

Pepperpot Magazine sat down with Reid to share in this achievement.

“I have never really wanted to become an author. An author isn’t really what I wanted to do, but what I have found is that I go places and I find myself taking notes very often of what is happening. You know you are recording. I find myself working at organisations that have problems with their system to put structures in place. They want someone to help them, and as a result, people keep asking me to share my ideas. I decided to put them in writing,“ Reid told Pepperpot Magazine.

He also noted that he was inspired by God to write on varying subject areas and as such has no challenge coming up with varying ideas on what to write as he pens his books.

Reid spoke about the fact that what most authors struggle with, he has been able to achieve in a relatively short period and still able to do what has to be done for his family, church, and his place of employment.

How to strike the Balance a stream in two years. This project will cut down pollution by replacing the use of heavy fossil fuels with gas. The burning of heavy fossil fuel is a major pollutant; gas will produce cheaper electricity and its use would be more environmentally friendly than oil fuel.

“ Well, family is important for me. Work is important for me. What I do is that I wake up very early in the morning, start my day early, make sure that I do what I have to do for my family, preparing breakfast for them and then leave home very early and give my workplace the best of me. So, for me, striking the balance is that you have to manage 24 hours in your day,“ Reid shared during his interview.

He shared with the magazine that he manages to do what he has to do for his family, and still in the middle of that, he finds the time to write books on subject areas.

Writing has been his passion since his days at school. He has written several procedures for organisations that helped to enhance and bolster the internal controls of several business organisations and improvement in business operations. During his working years, Reid has worked with junior and senior staff, owners, directors, and many stakeholders. He is never afraid of challenges, as it provides opportunities for creativity. He trained many employees and he also seeks to be trained, so that his knowledge base will become significantly larger, he explained.

The commitment to replacing fossil fuels with green power is a serious one, and work in this direction has already started with the use of Water Power, Solar Power, and Wind Power. Several small generators in the Interior utilise the rivers to generate electricity, but the centrepiece of the Water Power programme is the Amaila Falls scheme. The completion of the Amaila Falls scheme was delayed for several years by negative political action but it is now back again on stream.

Not only the Government but the Private sector as well have been investing in Solar and Wind power. Several homes have been using solar power as well as businesses. Demerara Bank, for example, uses solar power, which is more economical than fossil power. Manufacturing businesses have also been using solar power, an example being Nand Persaud’s rice milling complex in Berbice,

Successful experiments have been conducted in the use of household and industrial waste to generate power and foreign specialist consultants have been engaged in developing this source of green power.

Last, and most importantly, the Guyana Forests counterbalance the pollution from Oil and Gas. In the words of Dr. Leon, President of the Caribbean Development Bank: “The fact is that Guyana is a huge net carbon sink given that its forests store 19.5 gigatonnes of carbon; even with the development of its Oil and Gas industry, the country remains a net zero contributor”.

The world must become aware of this fact since it will mute criticism that Guyana is a polluter of the planet and preclude it from being bracketed with other oil producing developing countries which unfortunately are indeed polluters.

“I have over 25 years of progressive working experience in Retail, Education, Agriculture, Natural Resources, Manufacturing, Insurance, and Motor Industries, he has gained a wealth of experience, successfully managing employees and business processes with companies that employ staff ranging from 20 to 17,000,” Reid shared.

He has experience in operating within fast-paced environments, and was able to provide a strategic document that increased revenue by 20% within his first year of employment, also reduce the number of days to produce a report from 31 days to now only one day within the first few months of his employment. He has many other significant accomplishments.

Global Author Club and Business Award is an organisation that seeks to boost entrepreneurs’ satisfaction in building an impactful online reputation on a global stage. The Global Authors’ Club recognises the uniqueness of an individual on the global stage and brings one’s relentless efforts to Global attention.