Does anyone believe Jagdeo’s threats?

Dec 21, 2019 Letters

Dear Editor,

Does anyone really believe Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo’s threats anymore? Just this week he warned that if his party returns to government it will exclude the company which concludes an agreement with the current administration to buy Guyana’s first oil from “any and all open tenders”. One wonders how that will work if Exxon, Hess or CNOOC are one of the chosen bidders?
We don’t think any of the bidders are paying him in any mind because these Thursday threat sessions are nothing new. On October 4 he ranted, “Let me say to the international organizations …for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and all the others who insist on disbursing funds and approving contracts now that…they cannot claim that they have not been warned. It will have implications for repayments.” He was referring to a US$2.5M contract for a 150kW hydropower plant on the Chiung River, at Kato Village. There are two issues here: 1) This was a grant so if he wishes to withhold repayments he can go right ahead and 2) He would prefer Amerindians go without electricity in his bid to delay projects and score cheap political points.
On July 9 he threatened to pull out of talks with President David Granger if there was bad faith in negotiations for the choosing of a new GECOM Chairman. (He didn’t). On February 16 he warned if the party wins the elections it will seek to institute civil procedures against contractors. “The Accountant General may face personal liabilities for the disbursement of any money in that period. Contractors and others who persist in dealing with an illegal government could face civil recovery procedures for money that they receive on contracts.”
And no one is beneath his threats as poor Tyrell Tull learnt when taking cricket star Chris Gayle to a PNCR event in Linden.
All of this unhinged behaviour would be amusing if it were not for this very dangerous threat he uttered last year: “If they think they can rig the elections and have the kind of peace we have now they are wrong very, very wrong. I hope they are not thinking that in their calculation. I’m making it clear about that and it’s not coded language…the nature of the struggle changes.”
What should be very clear by now, except to Jagdeo, is that Granger don’t take bluff.

Yours sincerely
Albert Russell

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