Ram hammers govt. over rising debts, poor management of oil sector

(Kaieteur News) – Attorney and chartered accountant Christopher Ram has accused the Irfaan Ali administration of failing to deliver on its promise to properly administer Guyana’s controversial 2016 Stabroek Block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), while simultaneously loosening the country’s borrowing and oil-revenue spending rules.

In his latest column, Road to First Oil – Every Man Woman and Child Must Become Oil-Minded, Ram argues that six years after the PPP/C returned to office, the government’s pledge to scrutinise the oil agreement, audit the finances of the oil companies and protect the national interest through better management has not been fulfilled.

Ram’s criticism comes days after President Ali announced that Guyana’s share of oil from the Stabroek Block had increased from 12.5 percent to 39.8 percent, following the recovery of costs by the oil companies two years earlier than anticipated. The President had explained that previously, 75 percent of every 100 barrels produced went toward cost recovery.