OP-ED: Speaking up, shutting down

Jan 13, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, The GHK Lall Column

By GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – Former Executive Director of Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Vincent Adams, has urged Guyanese to speak up and speak out. I hear him clearly, and as much as he is on the right track for what is best for the citizens of this country, I must share with Dr. Adams and the Guyanese public that his call will fall on deaf ears. It is most regrettable, but that is the reality of today’s Guyana, and of which he has identified some pertinent points.

The first thing I wish to assert is that the overwhelming majority of Guyanese have lost any acquaintanceship with the word patriotism, and the extent of its meanings. Love of

GHK Lall

country has been replaced by love of money, and if this means silence and surrender to the concoctions and crimes of the PPP Government, then that is what it will be. Money buys everything in Guyana, from character to commitment to conviction. All three were lacking before, but the owners now put their best face on, while Guyanese comfort themselves with their collections legitimate or otherwise from either government recognition or embrace or that of its powerful and resourceful friends in the private sector.

Then, as hard as this is for me to articulate, Guyanese study Dr. Adams, and recoil from the fate of this courageous and principled Guyanese, a man with much under his hardhat and which Exxon feared and hated with a passion. As EPA head, Dr. Adams was constrained from speaking publicly, but the outstanding, protective work he did for this country from his high office was detested by Exxon’s people because it pushed back on their exploits, held them accountable, and slowed their rush. For such dedication to duty, Dr. Adams was axed by a cowardly and treacherous PPP Government, and now Guyanese coexist with a feeble EPA that is the pawn of Exxon, and the laughingstock of the world. Unlike Vincent Adams, when the people of the EPA speak today, it is gobbledygook, grasping at straws, and making utter spectacles of themselves before all observers.

The people at the EPA know what the right things are, what safeguards Guyana’s interests; but regarding those will not go near. They cherish job security more, and have lost any sense of humiliation at being poodles and toys of local political masters before whom they slavishly kowtow, bend to do their bidding. It is the price of continuity, of a paycheck, and of selling their conscience, intellect, and reputations for a cheap dollar. Quislings in Guyana are a dime a dozen, and bought by the barrel.

Guyanese know that if they run afoul of vindictive PPP leadership, there would be scant employment pickings in the private sector, which will not muddy its sweet relationship with the PPP by offering a job to those who were kicked out by it. Regarding civil society, I think Dr. Adams could get some traction here, but he has to pick his spots, after searching long and hard. There are a few upstanding and fearless citizens, mainly women, who have spoken out and taken the fight to those that desecrate our birthright. There really should be more Guyanese in civil society (churches, trade unions, NGOs, and so forth), who are taking a frank and principled stand on the mismanagement of this country by the PPP Government, and its cabal of commanders and Field Marshals. The handicap is that too many Guyanese in civil society are looking for their opportunity to score a piece of the oil action, which could only come compliments of the PPP Government. So, they hold their peace, swallow their senses, and scheme their way into personal profitability. Sadly, this is the new Guyana man and woman: no self-respect, no patriotic IQ, no backbone (and none of that other sensitive part of the anatomy).

Separately, I agree with Dr. Adams that anything that the Opposition puts on the table is automatically cloaked with a political taint by savvy PPP henchmen. Nevertheless, the Opposition still has its role to play, and it must be a well-crafted one that has potency in its delivery. I agree with him again that Guyanese are intimidated, and that this has contributed in no small measure to citizens making themselves invisible and inaudible. Most do not wish to attract any attention to themselves, even when they discern the quarter-truths that the government peddles, and the deviousness of those making pretty speeches, but mismanaging the country’s wealth, and misleading citizens while at it.

The PPP Government has made a living keeping Guyanese watching each other, and distrusting each other. Its leaders and loyalists may pretend to be capitalists, but they have retained broad strains of the communistic mindset that is in their bloodstream. It is about fear, suppression, control, and domination. This is why so few Guyanese speak out, why so many sell-out. It pays.

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