Some Notes on Moving to Guyana or St Vincent

Guyana is, or was, the second poorest country in south America after Bolivia, but it seems all that is about to change. Exxon Mobil has been drilling oil wells off the coast and has developed at least ten of them with a combined output which in ten years will be 750,000 barrels every day – almost one for every member of the 800,000 population – which is more per head than Saudi Arabia today. More exploration is taking place, with experts reckoning that the total will exceed the present estimate of 5 billion barrels.

All of this has saddled Guyana with some problems. If Guyana is anything like Nigeria, Venezuela, or Angola, who all had sudden oil windfalls, there will be corruption, inflation, and inequality. There was a vote of no confidence in the president, David Granger, in December which triggered an election within three months, although the government is challenging that in the courts. The vote was on how the government handled the oil contracts with Exxon Mobil which paid $18 million to Guyanese officials which the government initially denied but turned out to be true. Exxon Mobil said that the payment was standard industry practice in many petroleum agreements.

However, well before the no confidence vote, the opposition was claiming that the agreements between the government and Exxon Mobil were unusually favourable to Exxon Mobil. The agreement entitles Guyana to 2% of the gross earnings, but only after Exxon Mobil recovers its costs which are capped at 75% of the monthly production.

A lot of the problem is that the major parties are composed along ethnic lines, with the two major ones being Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese as a result of the country's history. Once in power, political parties have an advantage in perpetuating their stay in power and whichever one is in power when the oil revenue starts coming in is very likely to expand its patronage network to do exactly that.

The oil revenues are several years away yet, but it is easy to imagine that when they do start coming in, they could go to patronage networks rather than to the national interest. There are feelings of resentment between the two major parties, and this could lead to communal violence, more criminality, and undoubted corruption.

However, the country's political problems won't alter the fact that there will no doubt be some very good jobs to be had in the oil industry for workers who may wish to go there and leave our shores, all of which could also be good for companies that specialise in shipping to Guyana as they benefit from all the additional revenue that moving families to the country will bring.

Guyana has a tropical climate and the temperatures are fairly steady between the mid 70's and mid 80's and although the humidity is high, the trade winds off the coast make it pleasant. English is the national language, although some of the older inhabitants speak Urdu and Hindi. The capital, Georgetown, is on the coast and was named after George III, and has a population of about 250,000. There are plenty of good restaurants and bars, and the seafood is great too. All in all, if you work in the oil industry it could be a good place to spend a few years.

If you are thinking of moving to the Caribbean for retirement, another good place to go would be St Vincent, which is 600 miles away from Grenada. St Vincente is the main island, but there is a chain of smaller islands known as the Grenadines. If you enjoy sailing, this is definitely the place to be, with yacht-filled harbours, volcanic landscapes, and small islands which are privately owned. The capital is Kingstown which is noted for 18-century botanical gardens, beaches of black sand, and Fort Charlotte which was built by the British and provides great views, sitting where it is on the top of a cliff. The island of Mustique is the one where Princess Margaret used to party, and it still attracts celebrities today.

If you are moving there, you will need the services of a company that specialises in shipping to St. Vincent and the Caribbean islands, as they will have specialist knowledge and be able to provide you with a lot of advice.

W. I. Freight is a specialist shipping company that frequently ships goods to the Caribbean including the contents of homes of people moving there permanently. The company is fully aware of the import regulations and customs clearance in all the different Caribbean islands and also Guyana.

W.I. Freight has been shipping goods to the Caribbean for over 50 years and has expert knowledge of everything required to move abroad.