Will Guyana's record economic growth benefit people in remote Essequibo? - BBC News

Guyana has one of the world's biggest offshore oil and gas reserves but will this change lives in Essequibo?

14 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage caption, There has not been much change in Smith Creek despite the country's newly found oil wealthBy Stephen SackurHARDtalk, Smith Creek, GuyanaSmith Creek in Guyana's far northwest borderland with Venezuela is home to 300 people living in a collection of dilapidated cabins perched precariously on wooden stilts.

A gaggle of young children, some naked, play on the muddy bankside of the salty, silty creek.

Traditional canoes - carved out of single tree trunks - glide by, carrying families and their supplies. The nearest source of fresh, drinkable water is almost two hours of steady paddling away.

In Smith Creek it is hard to believe Guyana can lay claim to being the world's fastest growing economy.

No sign here that the country has become a premier-league petrostate. Eleven billion barrels of oil lie in the Stabroek Block subsea reserve off Guyana's coast, but fossil fuel riches are not yet flowing to the people of Smith Creek.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68715850

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