Glenn Lall has been a game changer

Sep 17, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – Glenn Lall has been a game changer. He and his newspaper, the Kaieteur News has been in the forefront of exposing the obnoxious deal which was signed, without any public input, between the oil companies and the APNU+AFC government of Guyana. He has also revealed the hypocrisy of the PPP/C in continuing with the very deal which it was so critical of.

It is not the first time that the PPP/C has backtracked on its criticisms of deals signed when it was in Opposition. Cheddi Jagan was highly critical of the OMAI deal which was signed by the PNC when in government.

But no sooner had Cheddi took office, he complied with advice to have the deal reviewed by a foreign entity. He accepted the review’s verdict that it was a fair deal even though OMAI never declared a profit after extracting more than three million ounces of gold.

The PPPC repeated this masquerade when it returned to power in 2020. It hired a Canadian to undertake a review of the PSA signed by the APNU+AFC Coalition government. And as expected that review did not suggest the need for renegotiation.

But to the PPP/C’s dismay that has not foreclosed public debate about the arrangements between the State and foreign multinationals.  The thorn in the Coalition’s and the PPP/C’s side has been Glenn Lall.

He has shifted the public discourse in Guyana. He has caused the spotlight to be cast away from the traditional PPP/C versus PNC/R quarrel towards a campaign to ensure that Guyanese get the best deal possible for its resources.

It was Glenn Lall and the Kaieteur News which were relentless in demanding that the Exxon deal be made public, after it was being kept secretive for almost 18 months. A great deal of appreciation must be shown also to David Granger for making the deal public.

There is still concern as to whether the deal was signed behind his back. Given that all Executive Authority resides in the President, if it can be established that David Granger did not have knowledge of the signing of the agreement nor delegated any authority for the deal to be signed, then that agreement would be a nullity.

All it would take is for the PPP/C to scrutinise the records of Cabinet and make public whether it found any record of Cabinet discussing and approving the contract. However, the PPP/C has been sidetracking this issue.

Yet, it is about to launch a Commission of Inquiry into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections. But it cannot find the resources to launch a COI into a deal which it was highly critical of when in Opposition.

It is suspected that the Americans have read the riot act to the PPP/C. The Americans no doubt have dirt on the PPP/C. But the Americans are not going to shade against one of their own companies. They are going to use it to ensure that the PPP/C does not rescind or renegotiate the contract.

Faced with this disgraceful situation in which it is allowing the country to be saddled with a bad deal, the PPP/C is going after the messenger rather than after his message. It has designated, unofficially, Glenn Lall, as an enemy of development.

Consistent with the narrative that Glenn Lall is anti-development, its acolytes have sought to paint him as being opposed to every development project in the country. But all the projects which Glenn Lall and this newspaper have rallied against have been mired in controversy.

The Berbice River Bridge and the Marriott Hotel have cunning financial models. One is supposed to be privately owned but would have become a white elephant had the government not taken control of it. The other is publicly owned has a flawed financial model with secretive syndicated investors.

One is losing money and is being floated by a government subsidy, and the other is only turning a profit because the people of Guyana have to repay the recoverable expenses of one of the hotel’s main customers, the oil companies.

Had it not been for the unceasing efforts of Glenn Lall, the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project would have been given a free pass. It was Glenn Lall who was in the forefront of exposing this project and showing its terminal flaws. The developer eventually walked away from the deal because of a lack of political consensus. The Chinese contractors, following the Vice News feature, now appear to no longer be interested in financing this project.

For his non-stop advocacy and heroic watchdog role, Glenn Lall is being designated as the number one enemy of national development. But if there is anyone who cares more about and understands about development, it is Glenn Lall.

He has changed the nature of public discourse in Guyana. It is no longer now about the PPP/C versus PNC. It is now about the people versus those who wish to sell out the people’s patrimony. And that is what drives fears into the hearts of the politicians and their powerful financial backers.

(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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