Guyanese the richest, and also among poorest; the President must act

Nov 06, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

Whilst I am very satisfied that Guyana is in the best possible hands currently with Dr. Irfaan Ali as President, I am beginning to get a bit anxious that this wonderful phase of modern Guyana leadership could be soured by a general dissatisfaction spreading like wildfire amongst the Guyanese people that ought not to be.

The President brings a combination of vibrant youth coupled with experience – a useful rarity – and he is channeling much of the experience part of it, apparently a passion he developed whilst serving as Housing Minister, into the transformational infrastructure works and housing projects both planned and underway. He has so grown in stature (whilst also physically slimming down) over the past two and one quarter years, that many Guyanese today easily offer heartfelt comments like “man of the people” when referring to our President in light conversation.

There’s a sour bit though. It comes with the resource that is transforming Guyana at a pace not yet realized by most Guyanese – because they are not experiencing it. It is one thing to become aware of internationally circulated financial reports that refer to Guyana’s impressive growth rate compared to perhaps all other countries in the world. Similarly impactful on the Guyanese subconscious are the reports about how much our nation has been earning from oil lifts – about USD1B by now – but there’s a big but.

It is quite another thing to be experiencing the same daily grind to eke out a living as was the norm before we became an oil-rich country. This is very painful. The people just don’t see things adding up. I am aware that the plan is to put the infrastructure in place, roads traversing the vast interior for example so that the people can open new areas to develop the country, but I am simultaneously aware that people are increasingly finding that they just cannot make ends meet.

The influx of business foreigners has upped the prices of land in many areas. Happily, a newly energized CHPA and government initiatives are supporting local home buyers in this regard – however, there is scant support for Guyanese in all other day-to-day endeavours as they struggle to survive on our notoriously meagre incomes. Public sector increases of around 3% across the board have been found woefully inadequate. Being the poverty-stricken citizens of the most oil-rich country (pro rata) in the world leaves a very sour taste in the mouths of all Guyanese.

Only recently the World Bank reported that 48% of Guyanese live below the poverty line; on less than USD5.50 or GYD1,000.00 daily. This is not a problem caused by the Government, but it is a problem that the Government ought to regard as a priority to be addressed. The 2022 Government of Guyana can afford it. Our population is small. It would not be administratively difficult to set up a system that provides a universal cash grant to every Guyanese citizen.

We have the right man as our President. Guyanese do need, however, to feel that we too are sharing in the financial benefits from the exploitation of our National patrimony. All we hear thus far though, is of the billions of USD quarterly profits proudly reported by ExxonMobil and Hess, whilst having every reason to figure out that a few key players in our business community are likewise very happy presently. In my opinion, all Guyanese do richly deserve to be presently happy also – not just the key business few, ExxonMobil and Hess.

Yours truly
Ronald Bostwick

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