H@rd Truths By GHK Lall – What Exxon gives, who takes

Jun 16, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, The GHK Lall Column

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Kaieteur News – Ask any, many, the majority of Guyanese and they are adamant: local politicians took what Exxon gave; look for more to keep the Faustian bargain going.  Regardless of whether it is PPP or PNC supporter that is gently inquired of, the position is the same: Exxon made its offer(s), and Guyanese political figures helped themselves to the company’s generosity.  Sometimes, one doesn’t even have to raise a question, and the suspicion is volunteered.  I have been a stoic listener, when diehard PPP supporters identify those in their group who stand as the biggest scoundrels, most unpardonable rogues.  Usually, the names thin out and then there are only so many left, and with time and the rest accounted for, there is only one remaining.  Kingfish is the killer shark and whale knitted into one.  I don’t like employment of the word ‘evil’ to describe another citizen, but it doesn’t mean that others don’t, that I can resist hearing what is said very calmly, firmly by red and green people.

Do similarly relative to Guyana’s National Assembly, and many are of the view that Exxon came as close to a clean sweep as is possible. Regarding whether Exxon cares about an American condition and restriction known as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FPCA) that, too, is a foregone conclusion.  It is my position that Exxon knows all the mandatory requirements of the FCPA, but could give a flying whatever.  What, and fall behind, and lose out? Catch me if you can catch me.  And finders are keepers.  Who is going to squeal?  Who is ready to get off the gravy train?  Any smoking gun, any connecting thread, has been well taken care of, likely buried in the bowels of Pradoville, and Irving, Texas.  From a company perspective, it is also good to have the goods on those were/are partners in crime; keeps everybody honest, squashes any ideas.

Exxon can talk cheese, and the PPP Government and PNC Opposition can join hands and shoot the breeze.  But growing number of Guyanese have difficulty shaking the bad vibes.  They observe one powerful political operator, and marvel at how picky he is with those he chooses for those to do business with; of all things, government business.  What did this citizen, this comrade, do to himself that he can’t touch many things, and he dare not go to some places, particularly where cans of worms can be unearthed, and citizens come to the belated conclusion that what they are looking at is not salmon and Chardonay, not champagne and caviar.

The conclusion of numerous seasoned watchers-local and foreign–is that what they took is what causes them to walk like a cat near a hot stove when asked for simple answers on the nation’s patrimony.  It is why they come across as people walking on a floor that is so rotted that there is the deep fear it could cave-in at any moment.  Nothing Guyanese politicians say these days relative to the people’s patrimony adds up, holds up.  When I study our parliamentarians, there is recognition of people who have dark and terrible secrets to hide.  This is how transparent they are, how mortally afraid they are of the light.  I was shocked at how far Guyanese, both PPP and PNC followers, have taken matters: how much would it cost Exxon to take over the whole lot of them?  I confess that I never went so far, but it indicates what Guyanese are thinking, confirms how many political figures are thought of regarding dereliction of duty, violation of trust, and abandonment of the positions they were elected to hold, come what may.

Well, Exxon came and its hands ‘prapah’ sweet, as Guyanese like to say.  Temptation took over and resistance went out the door.  Multiply by 200 and a most delectable number comes up.  From an Exxon perspective, that is not cheap talk, but the richness of ingredients that speaks its own compelling language.  From an Exxon calculation also, it does not amount to an arm and a leg.  Not when so much is reaped in return from that sweet liquid harvest.

It goes far in explaining why some can’t talk for fear of tripping over their tongue, and their dirty stories of selling and betraying come tumbling out.  It also goes to show why there are these political sparring sessions, and longwinded seminars that are short on substance and truth.  Still further, it is why some take refuge in flight, as they seek to delay the inevitable, and elude the day of exposure and reckoning.  It will come, trust me on this one, and it will not be from the Orient.

I leave my fellow Guyanese to think of this little story from World War I history. Vice Admiral Hans Hermann Ludwig von Reuter ordered the scuttling of what was left of the German Navy interned at Scapa Flow.  It was a matter of honour for the Germans suspecting that they were about to be harnessed to a draconian Versailles Treaty.  For the British, it was of tables turned in the jaws of victory, and a global chuckling the result.  Exxon can have its sanctity; Guyanese have their duty, children that should not be sacrificed.

(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.)

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• Exxon, GHK Lall, Guyana’s National Assembly, Guyanese, Pradoville

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