Guyana, a Dubai with Rolls-Royce or Donkey Carts?

Oct 10, 2021 Letters

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Dear Editor,

My good friend in the UK, a popular West Demerara author, writer, singer, philanthropist and social worker wrote, “Statistically, in terms of GDP per population head, yes Guyana could become one of the richest countries in the world. You only have to divide a few hundred billion US Dollars by 750,000 people and there is the answer. However, a better way for me is to establish how every single citizen actually benefits from the oil and gas money. In other words, there should be no one defined as poor in Guyana.” A calm reaction is reflected in this response to which he acknowledged.
Guyana, a Dubai with Rolls-Royce or Donkey Carts? Guyanese richness is being plundered, raped and exported to the Foreign Investors with the callous assistance of local players, all playing the man in the street for a hem and haw and a sucker! Local players are all imbibing in the luxury of kickbacks hidden in safe havens and sheltered overseas under disguise. Fiddle sticks continuously trickle into the main stream to boast a false sense of generosity and commitment, and, to create a diversion from any in-depth equitable distribution realistically. This alternative pacification alternates itself respectively for different segments in the society, conveniently placated strategically to serve different purposes. The bigger picture is invincibly visionless to the short sighted consumer, the ultimate significance of real worth is beyond the grasp of the man in the street and the majority is none the wiser with the panoramic view of loss suffered by the nation as a result of clever, collaborative and corruptive confusion, created by a syndicate of dedicated devious agents loyal to a cause of dictating a pace to control a greater part of the nation kept in the dark with hidden information or thwarted facts. Will Guyana remain a country, luxurious for the rich people and impoverished for the poor people? Who will be the game changer, the leaders who are bleeders or the community without immunity?
Guyana started off on its Oil Industry on the wrong footing, with shady characters, and, a cloudy ambience: (1) The distribution of the oil blocks was a big secret; (2) the owners of all the blocks are yet to be disclosed; (3) all Guyanese were not privy to the wheeling and dealing from inception; (4) ownership changed hands at an exorbitant price with Guyana gaining not a cent from such deals; (5) the PNC Party Govt. signed a lopsided agreement (6) it was the worst deal in the history of the oil industry globally; (7) Guyana’s negotiators refused to listen to oil experts advice;(8) to date, PNC’s Trotman who signed the agreement, refuses to tell the nation on whose advice he was instructed to sign the deal; (9) Trotman was wined, dined and overtly hospitably accommodated in Texas by Exxon at Exxon’s expense; (10) this ultimately led to be a selling out of an entire nation real wealth; (11) a puny US$18M signing bonus was originally hidden, denied and then confessed by the then PNC Govt.(12) a quick comparison with tiny Suriname’s deals will reveal the diverse, divided and damaging differences with the two countries’ contracts (13) Guyana’s contract with Exxon is stated as non-negotiable without Exxon agreeing to negotiate; (14) the agreement has Guyana squishing in the crutches, locked in Exxon’s jaws and paws, Exxon with its knees on the back of Guyana and its hands on the throat of Guyana leaving no room to breathe; (15) Trinidad is able to renegotiate its contracts but Guyana would not even attempt an approach in this direction; (16) every single unimaginable expense Exxon incurs, is recoverable; (17) Guyana is paying Exxon’s taxes; (18) Exxon hires more overseas workers; (19) Guyanese workers are being unfairly treated;(20) Guyanese hired do not enjoy same pay as those from overseas; (21) Guyana cannot monitor Exxon’s operations; (22) Guyana is yet to audit Exxon’s books; (23) Guyana needs Exxon’s permission to visit them; (24) Guyana is clueless of what Exxon is actually doing in the ocean; ((25) the gas flaring is a nightmare issue; (26) the absence of Ring Fencing is a gift to Exxon; (27) the absence of a proper oil spill agreement is horrendous; (28) Guyana is incapable of effecting stringent environmental protection; (28) oily water is now being observed at the Kitty seashore with the authorities refusing to raise an enquiry; (29) the fishermen are complaining of the loss of catch to a heedless government; (30) recent earthquake ruptures in the hinterland remain unconcerned for explanation of cause; (31) Guyana’s learning experts seem to know more than the tried, proven and tested experts, established and hired overseas; (32) transparency is not only a forgotten word but a lost cause; (33) the PPP’s election campaign trail promised a lot of changes, including renegotiation of oil contracts, but now?; (34) why was the oil contract hidden from the public for such a long time?; (35) shouldn’t there be a COI (Commission of Inquiry) as to why such a diabolical, devastating and detrimental contract was signed?; (36) Food for thought or, food for indigestion?; (37) why all this clouded and shrouded darkness?; (38) why are world experts’ opinions not validated by the Government?; (39) can you imagine the gas to shore project and its fiddled infiltrations?; (40) Who is defining local content?; (41) does local have a national alias known as “regional and international”?; (42) who is continuously selling out the rights of Guyanese?; (43) why are Guyanese not prioritised as suppliers for all things local?; (44) why are Guyanese ignored, trampled and side stepped?; (45) why are the relevant authorities voiceless in this matter?; (46) where is the transparency which so many electoral manifestos claimed to profess?; (47) will there be a Commission of Inquiry regarding the Trotman/Exxon saga?; (48) isn’t the Government interested to know who authorised Trotman to sell out Guyana’s rights?; (49) isn’t the Government interested in providing this data to the Guyanese public?; (50) who is sleeping in bed with whom?

Yours respectfully,
Jai Lall

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