The US$18M signing bonus from ExxonMobil is once again placed in controversy, this time with two senior Government Ministers sharing completely different views on whether any money was spent.
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon today denied that the Government has started to use the signing bonus and made it clear that the money will not be spent unless it is placed in the consolidated fund.
After it was revealed that the Government received the money from ExxonMobil, it was disclosed that some of it was set aside to pay legal fees relating to the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy.
The application was submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today.
At a post-cabinet media briefing today, Minister Harmon was asked whether any of the money was utilized to make an advance payment to the lawyers who helped in the crafting of the application, to which he responded in the negative.
“It is from that [Consolidated] Fund that any team whatsoever will be paid, whether they work before or they work after, it is from the Consolidated Fund that these funds will come from and from that Fund we will, of course, have to make applications to the National Assembly for the National Assembly’s approval of these funds.
“Is not some private account that you go and draw down some and leave back some and so on,” Harmon told the media.
Further questioned on when the signing bonus will be placed into the Consolidated Fund, Harmon said: “it’s a matter of prudent fiscal arrangement and will be placed there at a time when the Minister of Finance recognizes that it is the time for it to go.”
But this comment by the State Minister contradicts that of Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman, who on Wednesday told the media that some of the money from the signing bonus has already been used.
“Once we qualified for our appearance at the World Court, that was on the 30th of January I believe, then that triggered some release of funds but that’s a matter for the bank of Guyana and the Ministry of Finance,” he said.
The signing bonus was received from ExxonMobil in September 2016 but was only made public a year later after it was leaked to the media.
When collected, it was placed into an account at the Bank of Guyana and a court action was subsequently filed by the PPP for it to be placed in the consolidated fund.
Editor’s Note: The Natural Resources Ministry subsequently sent a statement in relation to this story. See full statement below.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The Ministry of Natural Resources calls on the publisher and editor(s) of the online publication, Newsroom, to retract and correct their misleading article captioned, “Trotman, Harmon differ on spending of signing bonus.”
Contrary to what is insinuated in the article, Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Raphael Trotman at no time indicated to Newsroom or any other media, a position that differs to the one outlined by Minister of State. Hon. Joseph Harmon.
Yesterday, speaking with the media, Minister Trotman explained that once the juridical settlement to the Guyana-Venezuela controversy had qualified for the International Court of Justice, it would have triggered a process. That process saw the Minister of Finance, Hon. Winston Jordan asking Cabinet by way of a Memorandum, to release the ExxonMobil Signing Bonus into the Consolidated Fund to make payments to the legal team representing Guyana.
For Newsroom to insinuate that there is a controversy regarding the spending of the Signing Bonus is mischievous and reckless given the purpose for which the funds are intended.
We call on all Guyanese to be vigilant at this critical juncture in our history and development as we seek a final and lasting resolution to a controversy that has dogged Guyana since its independence and further, to patriotically support the Government of Guyana’s initiatives accordingly.
Note: Minister Trotman is quoted in our original story above. He did not offer the explanations contained in the statement. He clearly said there was a withdrawal of some of the funds. We post the video story on this issue.
