What’s up, Mr. President? Emergency response plan, glowing numbers and groaning people

Jul 17, 2022 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

Encouraging Events, Disturbing Developments

By GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – I am beginning to think that something is seriously wrong with the President. I remind him that he is the head of state, and not the head of a carnival caravan. I flinched at the picture of the President in full regalia alongside the visiting Saudi Arabian delegation. I am pained to remind he and his handlers, that he is President Irfaan Ali of Guyana, and not Ali Baba of literary delights. Presidents must conduct themselves with decorum and grace. I wonder what his Arab visitors made of his latest piece of gaudy showmanship. He might think that it is a token of fraternal identification, but this falls flat, doesn’t come across as smartly as the President imagines. There is what is called pretensive and overdone. Leadership and governance are both serious businesses, and it is time that the heavy-footed Chief Executive get that in his head. It is clear that this leader and his counsellors have a lot to learn.

Learning is a scarce condition in this country, with more of the disturbing and worrying making the rounds. We are learning that the PPP Government, which is hellbent on the Wales Gas-to-Shore (GTE) project, is now putting together an emergency response plan for this most expensive of national undertakings. I could conclude that we are putting the cart before the horse, but it is more accurate to assert that we are clueless about what is cart and what is horse. We don’t have the proper studies, and don’t now the final cost, for a US billion-dollar project, yet we are racing ahead regardless, and without a barebones disaster contingency plan. My position is simple: we play the fool; we will end up in a fool’s paradise with oil and gas. Unless we get serious, we will be in serious trouble. The palefaces will pick up their grips and go. We all want cheap electricity, but not in this one-eye, one foot, one leader’s deranged manner. It is better that we continue to live with blackouts, than we run risks that blow us up.

Our numbers are blowing up with economic growth for 2022 now projected to increase from 47.5% to 57.8% due to daily oil production reaching 350,000 barrels. Even the lower number (47.5%) was impressive and encouraging by any standards, so it goes without saying how more favourably 57.8% economic growth sounds. It has a most beautiful ring to it, but the concern of mine is that most Guyanese are not hearing, feeling, anything at all. Not even a quick prick, a little pinch. The national economic numbers are flush and lush, but locals still feel the weight and crush. Why do these bright, dazzling numbers not mean anything to ordinary Guyanese, the mass of the population? The numbers are good, but what good are they when they do not make one bit of a difference in the pocket or pot. It is in situations like these that politicians are in their element, as they paint the rosiest pictures, while ignoring the gloom that is the daily living experience of countless citizens.

The poor in this society need inspiration and look to their leaders for answers, not for costume shows and making laugh stories of themselves. It would help if national leaders came clean and tell the people the truths that they are due, instead of playing with their minds, and taking advantage of them. We all want the best from this oil, but to get there, our leaders must be on their best at all times, and in every sense of the word. If gas-to-shore is the best option, then let it be, but give us the proof, not just the say so of leaders who all have a history of deceiving and misleading in this country. As billions are borrowed, then they must strive to get the best from every dollar spent, and with every public project identified. The money must not be another opportunity to tout high-priced projects, while planning to steal some of the millions on the side. We have all these glittering numbers, yet we have these groaning, hurting people. This disturbs.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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What’s up, Mr. President? Emergency response plan, glowing numbers and groaning people

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