Irfaan disappoints not honouring oil promises

Sep 09, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,

This is in response to Henry Singh (Sept. 3) who couldn’t identify shortcomings of the President. Thirteen months into his Presidency and we are still to have an audit of expenses claimed by Exxon that are in the billions of American dollars. The expenses could be inflated by 100 percent. President Ali has also not delivered on promise on oil and gas on renegotiation, local content, and audit. Why is the government afraid to conduct an audit? Oil and gas business is being managed to the benefit of non-Guyanese and a few in the inner circle of the government. If the government seeks a few percentages increase in oil royalty, its stock would increase.
Aside from shortcomings in oil and gas, there is the lopsided award of government contracts to preferred contractors with rules violations, placement of unqualified individuals in high positions, including at ministerial level. Countless examples have been exposed in the two non-government owned newspapers.
Irfaan promised to re-open sugar estates and restore the 7,500 jobs government employed workers plus 2,500 jobs affiliated with sugar, and 1,200 cane farmers. A year later, no private farmer has resumed planting cane. Only 450 government jobs were created at three estates. Of those, 150 at Skeldon were told on Monday to take their accrued month leave this year in anticipation of shutting of the estate next year. And just a dozen got private jobs affiliated with sugar were created. All the private businesses that shuttered when the estates were closed, remain closed. No new business was opened in the estates during the PPP return to office.
Standard of living has not improved over the last 13 months. Only those in the oil and mining business have improved standard of living. Guyanese were better off under the Presidency of Jagdeo and Ramotar. Income has been stagnant or declining from a year ago. Cost of living is at its highest since the time of Burnhamism in the 1980s.
The PPP won March 2, 2020 election because of the public’s disgruntlement with the Granger administration. There was a bundle of policy blunders like closing down sugar estates, not honouring the promise of $9,000 a bag for paddy, corruption, and alienation of its own supporters. Instead of embracing Indians, the coalition alienated and marginalised those who supported AFC forcing them and sugar workers to rush back to the PPP that ill-treated many Indians during its 23 years tenure. The Indians voted against the coalition. Columnist, Freddie Kissoon, and pollster cum frequent letter writer, Dr. Vishnu Bisram, can confirm this fact.
In 2019, Central Committee members were instructed how to vote or lose their perks and parliamentary positions. Some CC members shamelessly caved in to threat. The PPP won the Presidency by a meager margin because of the candidate. Had it been another candidate, the PPP would have won big. And there would have been no room for the election fiasco that played out the day after the election and that lasted for five months. The coalition would have conceded defeat to an acceptable PPP candidate.
Henry Singh rightly states that Irfaan Ali is the first Muslim head of government in Guyana. Guyana is displayed on a map on a WION broadcast (Aug 30) as an Islamic state. There are complaints that the bulk of government contracts are going to Muslims. Henry Singh makes reference to Irfaan Ali’s educational qualification. Can Prof. Jacob Opadeyi, appointed as head of GOAL explain!
The PPP has been looking good in office because the PNC has been in disarray and taking positions that turn off the nation. Once the PNC gets its act together with a moderate, likeable leader, the PPP will find itself under severe strains.
It is not too late to honour promise to renegotiate oil contract.

Yours truly,
Sharmila Ally

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