Dear Editor,
When Guyana discovered oil a decade ago, I don’t think it was fully understood by Guyanese what it meant for the country. Ten years later, I am still of the belief that Guyanese do not understand nor appreciate the positive impacts of the oil and gas industry.
The transformation is before our eyes, yet we take it for granted. But as the saying goes, it’s hard to appreciate things when you are living in the moment., the fact is that the revenue Guyana is earning today, will be deemed almost minuscule in the next five years.
In the next five years, Guyana will be earning just about US$10 billion or $2.09 trillion annually. To put that into perspective, which is twice the size of Guyana’s last national budget. At no point in Guyana’s history has the country earned that amount of revenue from a single natural resource, not even when gold production was at its peak.
What needs to happen now is prudent management of the revenue earned that will see it directed in areas that will not only benefit a few but all Guyanese., There should be drastic improvements in the livelihood of every man, woman, and child and those in authority must be held accountable by citizens to ensure that this is done.
Paul Mentore
