Foreign investors get the truth: Guyanese get garbage

Oct 26, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The foreign companies that come here to invest their money have a duty to give updates, share material developments, and deliver what is fully factual and accurate to the people who back them. Those in charge of the foreign companies operating here had better make it a practice of doing so, or they risk facing the wrath of their investors.

Hedge funds, portfolio managers, and speculators are serious about knowing where they stand with the monies that they entrust with CEOs, on the advice of the middlemen who bring them together. This is the way in which the advanced world functions, with accountability through an ongoing flow of information, as circumstances make possible. The investors in Omai have every reason to be pleased with the company’s results in Guyana (‘Omai new gold find two times Guyana’s US$3.2B debt -Govt. still to keep promise of releasing mining contracts’ -KN October 24). It is the story of Guyana: outsiders know what is going on here, while we are right here and are purposely left in the dark because our Government and leaders believe that they are better off hiding truths and facts from the citizens of this country.

Omai is hitting it big, while we are shrinking. From one area of mining operations alone, Omai has more than doubled its Mineral Resource Estimates (MRE) for Guyana. The foreigners are the ones reaping the incredible payoffs, while the Guyanese owners of their mineral resource riches are further pauperised, other than for a few low-paying jobs, and contract terms, which are still a mystery here. This is because our Political Leaders play clever games with tricky words, while pulling the wool over our eyes. It was Vice President Bharat Jagdeo who promised to “undertake” to get the long secret and long-awaited mining contracts released by the responsible State agencies. It seems that whatever the Vice President promised to “undertake” in the interests of real information sharing has been overtaken by other considerations.

We contrast how local Political Leaders conduct themselves with their dilly-dallying and their smooth scheming, against how the CEO of Omai, Ms. Elaine Ellingham, has been the picture of openness and accuracy before the people to whom she owes her job. If she fails to share the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth and it is likely to result in her losing her head. In other words, CEO Ellingham, like other foreign company heads doing business here, cannot dare to risk playing the kind of games that our Guyanese leaders do here, and expect to get away with doing so with their people.

Ms. Ellingham proudly gave her investors a nice Christmas present in October, and within the matter of a mere nine months Omai can boast such staggering numbers. Numbers- that are twice our total foreign debt. Numbers that would make even a John Hess of Hess Corporation boast some more, if he was in the gold mining business. Let’s hope he sticks to oil, and doesn’t get any ideas about diversifying. With such numbers, it should come as no surprise that CEO Ellingham could report that she and her team are “extremely pleased” with the fabulous results of the Wenot deposit in its Guyana’s operations.

The people of Omai are “extremely pleased” and can barely contain their joy, while Guyanese are left to wonder what happened to Vice President Jagdeo and his commitment, given in the clearest and strongest voice, to “undertake” to get the mining contracts released. What is it that is holding him back and Guyana’s agencies from giving citizens full disclosure? Was it how much Omai was poised to enrich itself from Guyana’s gold, while there are terms and conditions in the mining contracts that put us to more shame, because of how much is given away?

This country is wealthy on paper and computer calculations. Yet, the citizens of this country live with the unhealthy reality that it is the same old story of leadership failure, leadership deceptions, and leadership concealments. This is the kind of garbage that Guyanese have gotten from their governments, without exception. Meanwhile, locals live with these losers that they have for leaders, and nothing changes. Poverty and darkness flourish.

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