Villagers in this tiny coastal community lined up on the soggy grass, leaned into the microphone and shared their grievances as someone in the crowd yelled, 鈥淪peak the truth!鈥�
And so they did. One by one, speakers listed what they wanted: a library, streetlights, school buses, homes, a grocery store, reliable electricity, wider roads and better bridges.
鈥淧lease help us,鈥� said Evadne Pellew-Fomundam 鈥� a 70-year-old who lives in Ann鈥檚 Grove, one of Guyana鈥檚 poorest communities 鈥� to the country's prime minister and other officials who organized the meeting to hear people's concerns and boost their party's image ahead of municipal elections.
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The list of needs is long in this of 791,000 people that is poised to become the world鈥檚 fourth-largest offshore oil producer, placing it ahead of Qatar, the United States, Mexico and Norway. The oil boom will generate billions of dollars for this largely impoverished nation. It's also certain to spark bitter fights over how the wealth should be spent in a place where politics is sharply divided along ethnic lines: 29% of the population is of African descent and 40% of East Indian descent, from indentured servants brought to Guyana after slavery was abolished.
Change is already visible in this country, which has a rich Caribbean culture and was once known as the 鈥淰enice of the West Indies.鈥� Guyana is crisscrossed by canals and dotted with villages called 鈥淣ow or Never鈥� and 鈥淔ree and Easy" that now co-exist with gated communities with names like 鈥淲indsor Estates.鈥� In the capital, Georgetown, buildings made of glass, steel and concrete rise above colonial-era wooden structures, with shuttered sash windows, that are slowly decaying. Farmers are planting broccoli and other new crops, restaurants offer better cuts of meat, and the government has hired a European company to produce local sausages as foreign workers transform Guyana鈥檚 consumption profile.
With $1.6 billion in oil revenue so far, the government has launched infrastructure projects including the construction of 12 hospitals, seven hotels, scores of schools, two main highways, its first deep-water port and that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo told The Associated Press will double Guyana鈥檚 energy output and slash high power bills by half.
And while the projects have created jobs, it鈥檚 rare for Guyanese to work directly in the oil industry. The work to dig deep into the ocean floor is highly technical, and the country doesn't offer such training.
"All we live on is promises. I have to do this because I don鈥檛 have any other way to survive."Samuel Arthur, makes $100 a month selling large, heavy-duty plastic bags in Guyana
Experts worry that Guyana lacks the expertise and legal and regulatory framework to handle the influx of wealth. They say it could weaken democratic institutions and lead the country on a path like that of , a petrostate that plunged into political and economic chaos.
鈥淕uyana鈥檚 political instability raises concerns that the country is unprepared for its newfound wealth without a plan to manage the new revenue and equitably disburse the financial benefits,鈥� according to a USAID report that acknowledged the country's deep ethnic rivalries.
A consortium led by discovered the first major oil deposits in May 2015 more than 100 miles (190 kilometers) off Guyana, one of the poorest countries in South America despite its large reserves of gold, diamond and bauxite. More than 40% of the population lived on less than $5.50 a day when production began in December 2019, with some 380,000 barrels a day expected to soar to 1.2 million by 2027.
A single oil block of more than a dozen off Guyana鈥檚 coast is valued at $41 billion. Combined with , that will generate an estimated $10 billion annually for the government, according to USAID. That figure is expected to jump to $157 billion by 2040, said Rystad Energy, a Norwegian-based independent energy consultancy.
Guyana, which has one of the world鈥檚 highest emigration rates with more than 55% of the population living abroad, now claims one of the world鈥檚 largest shares of oil per capita. It's expected to have one of the world鈥檚 fastest-growing economies, too, according to a World Bank report.
The transformation has lured back Guyanese such as Andrew Rampersaud, a 50-year-old goldsmith who left Trinidad last July with his wife and four daughters, encouraged by changes he saw in his country.
He makes some 20 pairs of earrings and four necklaces a day, mostly with Guyanese gold, but where he's really noticed a difference is in real estate. Rampersaud owns seven rental units, and before the oil discovery, he'd get a query every month or so.
Now, three to four people call daily. And, unlike before, they always pay on time in a country where a two-bedroom apartment now costs $900, triple the price in in 2010, according to Guyana鈥檚 Real Estate Association.
But many Guyanese, including those living in Ann鈥檚 Grove, wonder whether their community will ever see some of that wealth. Here, bleating goats amble down the village鈥檚 main road, wide enough for a single car or the occasional horse-drawn cart. Dogs dart through wooden homes with zinc roofs, and the sole marketplace where vendors once sold fruits and vegetables is now a makeshift brothel.
鈥淚 expected a better life since the drilling began,鈥� said Felasha Duncan, a 36-year-old mother of three who spoke as she got bright pink extensions braided into her hair at an open-air salon.
Down the road, 31-year-old Ron Collins was busy making cinderblocks and said he didn鈥檛 bother attending the recent Saturday morning meeting with officials.
鈥淚t makes no sense,鈥� he said, leaning on his shovel.
He doesn鈥檛 believe his village will benefit from the ongoing projects that have employed people such as Shaquiel Pereira, who's helping build one of the new highways and earning double what he did three months ago as an electrician. The 25-year-old bought land in western Guyana last month and is now saving to build his first home and buy a new car.
鈥淚 feel hopeful,鈥� he said as he scanned the new highway from his car, pausing before the hourlong drive home.
His boss, engineer Arif Hafeez, said that while people aren't seeing oil money directly in their pockets by way of public wage increases, construction projects are generating jobs and new roads will boost the economy.
鈥淭hey say it鈥檚 going to look like Dubai, but I don鈥檛 know about that,鈥� he said with a laugh.
At a job fair at the University of Guyana, excitement and curiosity were in the air as students met with oil companies, support and services firms, and agricultural groups.
Greeting students was Sherry Thompson, 43, a former hospital switchboard operator and manager of a local inn who joined a company that provides services such as transportation for vice presidents of major oil companies.
鈥淚 felt like my life was going nowhere, and I wanted a future for myself,鈥� Thompson said.
Jobs like hers have become plentiful, but it鈥檚 rare to find Guyanese working directly in the oil industry.
Richie Bachan, 47, is among the exceptions. As a former construction worker, he had the foundation, with some additional training, to begin working as a roustabout, assembling and repairing equipment in the offshore oil industry two years ago. His salary tripled, and his family benefits: 鈥淲e eat better. We dress better. We can keep up with our bills.鈥�
But beyond the slate of infrastructure projects and jobs they鈥檙e creating, experts warn the huge windfall could overwhelm Guyana.
鈥淭he country isn鈥檛 preparing and wasn鈥檛 prepared for the sudden discovery of oil,鈥� said Lucas Perell贸, a political science professor at New York鈥檚 Skidmore College.
Three years after the 2015 oil discovery, a political crisis erupted in Guyana, which is dominated by two main parties: the Indo-Guyanese People鈥檚 Progressive Party and the Afro-Guyanese People鈥檚 National Congress, which formed a coalition with other parties.
That coalition was dissolved after a no-confidence motion in 2018 gave way to snap general elections in 2020. Those saw the Indo-Guyanese People鈥檚 Progressive Party win by one seat in a race that's still being contested in court.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why the 2020 elections were so important. Everyone knew what was at stake,鈥� Perell贸 said.
The USAID report accused the previous administration of a lack of transparency in negotiations and oil deals with investors, adding that the 鈥渢remendous influx of money opens many avenues for corruption.鈥�
When The Associated Press asked Prime Minister Mark Phillips about concerns over corruption, his press officers tried to end the interview before he interjected, saying his party had a zero-tolerance policy: 鈥淲herever corruption exists, we are committed to rooting it out.鈥�
Guyana signed the deal in 2016 with the ExxonMobil consortium, which includes Hess Corporation and China鈥檚 CNOOC, but did not make the contract public until 2017 despite demands to release it immediately.
The contract dictates that Guyana would receive 50% of the profits, compared with other deals in which Brazil obtained 61% and the U.S. 40%, according to Rystad Energy. But many have criticized that Guyana would only earn 2% royalties, something Jagdeo said the current government would seek to increase to 10% for future deals.
鈥淭he contract is front-loaded, one-sided and riddled with tax, decommissioning and other loopholes that favor the oil companies,鈥� according to a report from the Ohio-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Aubrey Norton, leader of the opposition People鈥檚 National Congress that was part of the coalition that signed the deal, told AP that it made mistakes: 鈥淚 have no doubt about that. And therefore, moving forward, we should rectify those mistakes."
Activists also have raised concerns that the oil boom will contribute to climate change, given that one barrel of fuel oil produces on average about 940 pounds (about 425 kilograms) of carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
AP reached out to ExxonMobil spokeswoman Meghan Macdonald for comment about how the company handled the deal in Guyana and environmental concerns, and unsuccessfully sought to arrange an interview with the company鈥檚 top official in the country. Macdonald said in a statement that the terms of the company鈥檚 agreement with the government 鈥渁re competitive with other countries at a similar stage of resource discovery.鈥�
Norton said he was concerned about the current government鈥檚 focus on building infrastructure instead of developing people, adding that he worries the oil wealth will intensify ethnic divisions in Guyana and create other problems: 鈥淚t will result in the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.鈥�
Jagdeo, the vice president who once served as president, told AP that his party has created a special fund for oil revenues with safeguards to prevent corruption, including appointment of an independent monitor and a board of directors to oversee the fund along with the finance minister.
Parliamentary approval also is needed to decide how the funds would be used, he said, adding that oil revenues currently represent only a third of Guyana鈥檚 budget and that increases in salaries might happen later: 鈥淎t this point in time, we are not awash with money.鈥�
鈥淲e have seen the mistakes made by other countries,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to be cautious.鈥�
Despite the oil boom, poverty is deepening for some as the cost of living soars, with goods such as sugar, oranges, cooking oil, peppers and plantains more than doubling in price while salaries have flatlined.
Many are still scraping by, like Samuel Arthur, who makes $100 a month selling large, heavy-duty plastic bags in Georgetown and other areas, hauling some 40 pounds of weight every day.
鈥淎ll we live on is promises,鈥� he said of the oil boom. 鈥淚 have to do this because I don鈥檛 have any other way to survive.鈥�
It鈥檚 the kind of need familiar to many in Ann鈥檚 Grove.
When the meeting between residents and officials ended, the prime minister pledged that most requests would be fulfilled.
鈥淟ooking forward to your promise,鈥� resident Clyde Wickham said. Officials nodded and vowed to return with more details on how they'll help Ann's Grove.
Hopeful residents clapped. Like Wickham, many say they'll work to hold the government to its word.
