Foreigners ordering around Guyanese

Apr 05, 2022 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – I can manage to get by with leadership brazenness in Guyana now that it has become so routine locally. On the other hand, what I have great difficulty with is the bizarre, the putrid, and the ‘eye-pass’ of some foreigners who come here and think that they can dictate to us, that they can push us around any way and any time that pleases them. The article titled, “Court case filed over tax exemptions…Exxon subsidiary says AG legally tasked to defend public’s rights not KN publisher” (KN April 2) tells the story, relays the reality.

It is of what the arrogant and supercilious Country Head of Exxon dared to do here, and Guyanese just shake their heads, shrug their shoulders, and move on. I identify the man because he signed the affidavit placed before the Court. Here it is that the Country Head of Exxon is telling the Hon Attorney General of Guyana how to perform his duties, what should be his priorities, and who he should be representing. The audacity of these foreign scavengers is breathtaking. First, they rob us, then they turn around and insult us by demanding (under legal cover) the right to do so. There is Exxon’s local Field Marshall directing legal affairs in Guyana, and firing off an early salvo.

Exxon is so arrogant that its Grand Wizards think nothing of coming here and instruct this nation’s Chief Legal Officer regarding the manner in which he must proceed. I acknowledge that the incumbent could be a tad slow and a bit thick, on occasion, but he could do without this helping hand. He doesn’t need it, damn it, even though I am hesitant to admit it. I recognize, too, that it is part of the divide and conquer legal strategy, part of the clever overall legal deployment, that is being employed to pit Guyanese against Guyanese, and over Guyanese affairs. It is their wealth. I hope that the AG has that sense of self, that part of the anatomy, to tell these people publicly where they get off, and which speeding sand truck they could go and stand in front of. If this is allowed to continue, Exxon will soon demand (yes, demand, not approach and plead) that our judiciary follow suit and jump to do their wishes.

Imagine the hubris of these outsiders. They have the President and Vice President kneeling at their feet, and eating out of their hands, and now they rope in the AG. In less than a heartbeat, Exxon has mustered the necessary legal acumen to interpret sufficiently Guyanese laws to direct the Guyanese AG on the path he must follow to trample upon a Guyanese supplicant before Guyana’s Court, who is seeking fairness and justice for all Guyanese citizens. I did write when this matter commenced that what Guyana was faced with is this bizarre situation of: the Government of Guyana and ExxonMobil v. the People of Guyana, for here we have a PPP Government standing on a war footing, actually declaring war, on its own citizens on behalf of foreigners. This is becoming more and more undeniable, with Exxon not leaving anything to chance, and clearly dictating, directing, and demanding this country’s Attorney General do its bidding, stand on its side, and get rid of this litigious and vexatious Guyanese thorn in the flesh.

Editor, just when I thought that matters couldn’t get more bizarre it did with what Monday’s newspaper delivered smack in the kisser: “Glenn Lall should have approached Court sooner…’sat on his hands for five years’ -Exxon says” (KN April 4). This is more than bizarre, it is surreal, almost like a real Guyanese jumbie story. Exxon first lectures and mentors the AG on how he must go about his business (via court cover, of course). Then, it proceeds to excoriate and correct KN’s publisher for his sloth in acting through filing timely suit. Methinks Exxon speaks from both sides of its mouth simultaneously.

Who is next in line in Guyana for an oral or written whipping from our newest slave master, Exxon? Exxon has already commandeered our political leaders, (I believe our parliament also); it has neutralized our houses of worship to the extent that they are no longer prioritizing concerns for the environment; and now it takes aim at our once hallowed Fourth Estate. The one media entity that stands at the bridge to defend against Exxon’s barbarianisms, like Horatio of yore, is being attacked, soon to be vilified further, possibly.

I ask my fellow Guyanese where does this creeping tyranny cease? Is there no pride, no shame, among us? Where is our dignity and self-respect that we allow any corporate savage, any foreign mercenary, any incoming white supremacist to give us the arcing tip of their jackboot? Where is our rage at these outrageous atrocities, these studied putdowns?
Isn’t time that we tell these carpetbaggers where they get off? Isn’t past the point that we rise up and confront these 21st century robber barons can come here and try to run over us? And if that is agitation, or worse, then hang me.

Sincerely,
GHK Lall

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