Had the voice of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) not been stifled over the last four years, many of the mistakes made by the government with issues such as the ExxonMobil deal for the Stabroek Block and even constitutional reform could have been avoided, says the party’s Executive Member, Dr David Hinds.
During an interview with Guyana Standard, the University Associate Professor noted that the WPA’s co-leader, Professor Clive Thomas, is one of the region’s most revered economists who has written extensively on oil and gas, with particular focus on the Stabroek block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). However, despite Thomas’ experience, Dr Hinds bemoaned the fact that the professor was kept out of the loop. “It is a shame that he was not at the table or else that contract would have been better,” the political activist added.
The WPA Executive Member said, too, that if the WPA had a voice at the table, Constitutional Reform, which the government promised to deliver, would have been more advanced.
He said, “So I am putting to you that if we were not marginalised, the mistakes they made on these two matters would have been avoided.”
Considering his perspective, this media entity subsequently asked Dr Hinds if the WPA is in favour of the Exxon PSA being renegotiated.
He would only say, “…The pros and cons of renegotiation are still being discussed but we are not deaf to the criticisms of the contract. Some of the views are justified and others we have seen, we find to be overboard.”
