Now is the time for Caribbean countries to band together and tackle global issues as a united front, Energy Minister Stuart Young has told an international energy conference held in Guyana this week.
Young also extended the call to Latin American and African countries to join.
“The time is now. This is the opportunity for Caricom to properly collaborate. If we don’t learn from the recent examples of how small developing countries were treated coming out of COVID cast your mind back to how difficult it was first of all to get face masks, to get ventilators and then to get the vaccine. If that is not a wake-up call for Caricom and for us as small developing countries I don’t know what we are waiting on,” Young said.
Young made the statement as he participated in the Regional Collaboration panel at the International Energy Conference and Expo held at the Guyana Marriott hotel in Georgetown.
But apart from the difficulties faced during the pandemic, Young said the war in Ukraine also exposed the hypocrisy of some countries who returned to coal after previously decrying hydrocarbons as being bad for the environment.
“If they had the hydrocarbons they would be developing it so this is the opportunity now for us as Caricom to take the lead, to stand up with our resources but we must work together,” he said.
Young said the region has the expertise and ability to work together.
“Now is the time for Caricom to come together Suriname, Guyana, T&T with the existing hydrocarbon resources with the potential of other provinces but if we miss the opportunity now as Caricom I don’t know when it will come again there were serious wake-up calls,” Young said.
Young said when other countries were faced with difficult times they did what they felt was in their best interest.
“At the end of the day when other countries are in crisis they do what is best for them now is the time for us to provide the energy security, in my view, not only for the region because we have the resources for the region but I call on Latin America to join with us and also let’s not forget our brothers and sisters on the African continent who for many, many centuries too have been exploited and have the hydrocarbon resources,” Young said.
“So my simple call, the time is now we must take control of our own destinies we have the intellectual capacity and ability we have the experience and we have the hydrocarbon resources,” he said.
“The rest of the world it is time that they respect us and they work with us as we develop this not only for our own respective people, not only for the region, but for the wider energy security and the wake-up call has come,” Young said.
Young said Guyana and Suriname are on an excellent trajectory for development.
“There is opportunity in learning from those who made mistakes before because we didn’t get it all right and then when you start to see a province declining you learn a lot more of what can come,” Young said.
“If we are all sitting at a table collaborating have the vision that you have Suriname, Guyana, T&T, Barbados and Grenada sitting at the same table opposite those who want to work with us to develop our resources the strength we would have as opposed to playing off provinces against each other and jurisdictions against each other there are massive opportunities natural gas is going to be around to stay,” he said.
Foreign Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation of Guyana Robert Persaud called for the establishment of a regional collaboration policy.
Especially as Caricom is celebrating 50 years this year.
“It is a very exciting time to talk about regional collaboration it is good for the future and I do hope that coming out of these types of conversations we will see not only action but a much more dedicated policy focus in this regard,” he said.
“Perhaps the time has come for us to have a regional collaboration policy be it on energy but while energy will be the main topic addressing some of the other sub-issues,” Persaud said.
Persaud said having that coordinated approach will allow the region to capitalise on the opportunities that are before us.
Young however call for the conversation to go beyond a policy.
“Let us move it beyond a policy I think we have to implement the dreams we have now to make it a reality,” he said.
“By the time we develop a policy we have lost time and opportunity we have the intellectual capacity we sit down and work it out quickly and we move to implementation,” Young said.
Young said for the first time in a long time you are seeing Caricom leaders pulling in the same direction collaborating in constant communication.
“The time is now and we must not miss this opportunity now because I don’t know when next it will come around energy security and food security are the two biggest issues facing the world right now and Caricom has the opportunity to participate in both,” he said,
Young said the large land masses of Suriname and Guyana can assist in the region’s approach to food security.
“The energy security for the small islands they cannot do it on their own because, at the end of the day, renewables, everything, comes at a cost and a price,” he said.
“There is certainly not sufficient population in those small islands to make the renewable projects cross the line from a financial point of view but if they pull together and utilise their resources together they can get that type of energy security and the time is now for us to do this because the rest of the world has shown us that in times of crises, they will look after themselves ad forget about us,” Young said.
“So if you all don’t want to take that lesson on board we do it at our own disadvantage. It is up to us let’s just get it done,” he said.
Also on the panel were Wazim Mohamed Mowla the associate director and Caribbean lead of the Atlantic Council and Dr Thackwray Driver the CEO of the T&T Energy Chamber.
