We must avoid putting greedy and dishonest politicians near anything concerning our oil wealth

Feb 10, 2019 Letters

Dear Editor,

I’m usually an optimist but after reading Friday’s article by RooplallDudhnath in which he states that the new found oil riches of Guyana trickling down to the average Guyanese is nothing but a pipe dream, the wind of reality has blown me off my stool. As much as I’d like to disagree with Mr. Dudhnath, the truth is, he’s likely to be correct. There are so many examples around the world of oil rich countries with dirt poor populations. The common fly in their ointment is politicians who are as crooked as the embattled president of a certain powerful North American country. Do we have such politicians in Guyana? By the truckloads. And Guyanese know who they are.
As Mr. Dudhnath stated, Guyanese would again be conned into voting according to race. The same politicians who had demonstrated how efficient they are at squandering the money of Guyanese on themselves and friends, would be put in charge of the oil purse, and apart from a few crumbs thrown to some people, they will enrich themselves on a scale never before seen in this part of the world. They will do a few projects to show they’ve done something and Guyanese, once again, would be, to put it mildly, screwed once again by the politicians.
Once again, the optimist in me kicks in. The only way to avoid remaining in the poverty in which we’ve been wallowing for so long, is to avoid putting any of those greedy, manipulative and dishonest politicians anywhere near the control of anything concerning the oil wealth. If in ten years Guyanese are not the wealthiest citizens in the Caribbean, it would be because once again politicians have conned us into voting race instead of voting in the honest people who have the country at heart. If in ten years we do not have an efficient source of electricity, be it hydro or otherwise, we would have been bamboozled. If in ten years we do not have an all weather highway and/or railway from the coast to Lethem, then once again we would have been hoodwinked. If in ten years policemen, teachers, nurses and civil servants are not earning the kind of salaries that rival those of the U.S., then we’ve been ripped off. Whether or not this oil wealth filters down to the ordinary citizen of Guyana, is dependent on how wise the Guyanese public has become. Stick to the old formula of voting race and we will get the same results and continue to wallow in poverty. Only the insane expects a different result by repeating the same action.
Oil should usher in a new day for Guyanese and our young people should be smart enough not to go the way of their parents with race voting. It has never benefited any of us but the chosen few. Continue the practice and Mr. Dudhnath would be right on the money.

M. Alves

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