Half of Guyana crying in pain

Nov 04, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The World Bank (WB) dumped a bucket of freezing water on all those gaudy economic numbers and estimates that have delighted the PPPC Government and its mouthpieces in the months since oil has been found. There has hardly been a day when the best descriptions of economists, statisticians, and analysts have not been placed in the media to inspire Guyanese about what it is that they have.

Guyanese know that they have oil in the billions of barrels, and they know from being bombarded by the media and PPPC Government spokespeople that their economy is among the best on the planet.

Now, thanks to a disturbing report from the World Bank, many Guyanese are nodding their heads as to the reality they live with, and how much this oil wealth and all these grand economic numbers have meant for them. Frankly, Guyana’s oil wealth has not made a difference for almost half of our citizens (“World Bank says…Almost 50% of Guyanese living on GYD$1000 per day…Opposition renews call for Govt. to press for more money from ExxonMobil” -KN November 3). Can this be real? Can the respected World Bank have it wrong? Can it be that Guyana’s political Opposition has finally found an issue of sufficient substance in which to put its teeth and make the PPPC Government come to its senses?

Numerous Guyanese did not need the World Bank to tell them the extreme difficulty of what it is to live in this oil rich country. The just-under-half of the Guyanese population, who pull their hair out of their heads, and chew their fingernails with worry, already knew about that grim plight because they are living it right now. A thousand Guyana dollars can only stretch so far, and when it is done, there is so much of what couldn’t be had. The result is that Guyanese parents and children have to do without, and not with just some odds and ends, but on a lot of what matters, since they are basics that must be had, if there is going to be any kind of decent existence.

Guyana is gushing oil by the hundreds of thousands of barrels daily and Guyanese are scrambling to get by on GY$1000 per day. ExxonMobil is minting its own money from Guyana’s oil, while half of the Guyanese population is spitting blood, can hardly draw a breath. What to eat? What to wear? What to give the children? How to pay the bills that are steadily piling up? What to do to make the pain go away, since painkillers may not be in reach because the GY$1000 for the day is already gone.

The frontline leaders of the PPPC Government are always ready with a quick, slick answer. It would be interesting to observe what spin President Ali, and Vice President Jagdeo (and their storytellers) are going to put on this upsetting information coming out of the World Bank. We at this paper know what is going on in the real world, the one down in the streets, and in the villages, and on the roads, where Guyanese are hurting. They can’t catch up with a crushing cost-of-living nightmare, they have nothing of substance to swallow, they can’t even breathe.

It is interesting that the Opposition has latched onto to this World Bank development to call on the PPPC Government to up the ante on ExxonMobil, so that Guyana can get more from its oil. It is now obvious that government leaders and ministers (and talking heads) cannot continue to spout all these beautiful economic percentages and projections, while Guyanese are hungry and in need of urgent help. Half of Guyana needs immediate assistance, and not more paper dolls with nice figures written all over them.

More money for public servants and those earning the minimum wage is a start. More for those on fixed incomes, more for families, and more for every Guyanese living at or near that GY$1000 a day number. ExxonMobil must pay or it must be pushed out. ExxonMobil must give Guyana more, or it must go. The PPPC Government must see to that, or it must go too. More from ExxonMobil for Guyana, more now (or move out).

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Half of Guyana crying in pain

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Half of Guyana crying in pain

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