Hard Truths by GHK Lall – Guyana – Going To Hell On A High Speed Boat

Jul 29, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, The GHK Lall Column

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Kaieteur News – The things that are on the wrong side of what makes for a civilized community, an existence of pride, are all over the place in Guyana.  Outright wrongs and failures infest every segment and every tier of Guyanese society.  They don’t have to be searched for, and because they are so abundant, they shower on the head, and tangle the feet, if one does not pay attention to where and how (and with whom) walked.  These are the hard truths about life in Guyana.  I have to start somewhere, and the first question is where do I begin in this love story that is Guyana?

The PPP Government, meaning Dr. Jagdeo, came racing out the blocks to announce opening of the bidding on coveted oil blocks.  That fell short of the mark.  Another round of bidding was in the cards, only for that deck to be discovered to be tainted, as in missing some aces.  It figures.  For once there is overloading with jacks and jokers, then only the foolish can be expected, which was not long in coming.  The bidding is being delayed (again) because the required fit and proper regulatory framework is in a state akin to that of the Demerara Harbor Bridge.  The latter could be patched and fixed; but the mystery is what kind of fix does the PPP Government (meaning His Royal Highness, Dr. Jagdeo, [my brother]) have in mind?  The reasonable in this society, and there are a few still present, would be in order to think that a robust regulatory framework would be among the highest priority planks to be addressed first, and delivered first.  But here we are accelerating forward with bidding for our prized oil blocks, but with no steering wheel nor mirrors nor braking system (and a blind driver).  No wonder the darned bidding ran into a gutter.  Thanks for nothing, Brother B.Here is a little advice from stupid man corner: put the paperwork together first, then put the blocks on the selling block.  What could be simpler than the donkey fed and watered, and then yoked to the stalled express bidding train!  Do that, Sir J, and there would be horsepower, and not donkey city.  Gawd, help wee!  No!  help meeee.

The judiciary then got into the act, in this mad rush to more madness.  Yeah, another hard truth is that this Guyana is a mad, mad (mad) world.  A citizen brutally wounded his neighbor, who made the cardinal error of asking for the loud music to be lowered.  Seh wha?  Chop, chop, chop!  The presiding judge said tek life, buddy, and ponder the error of ways.  The higher court ruled that that was not restorative, but primitive.  I could agree.  To a point.  But I can’t agree with going in reverse from life to 9 years.  Nossir!  No ma’am!  Not I, lords and ladies.  I could have lived with 20, with a minimum of 10 served.  But nine, your (my) worship?  In Guyana, it seems that walking on the wild side leads to the judiciary ending up on the wrong side of the tracks.  Somebody help us, please.  I give the divine a rest.

The matter that involves alleged public urinating and exposing and expounding by an MP (a PNC one! gotcha!) is one for the book, bankbook.  I mean $200,000 is on the high side of lonesome.  Oh! Then I found out about jail, if convicted.  Keep this up, and only Guyanese females would be visible in this town.  The men would mostly be in jail for assaulting the dignity of fences, catwalks, bulwarks, boardwalks, and the many other walks of life in Guyana.  My word, we have progressed (or declined) from thought police in the media to the ‘p’ police in public.  Please note that I only used the letter, not the noun.  So, the hope is that the PPP police don’t come to get me.  Anadah waan bite de dust!  One less troublemaker to consider.

The Honorable Permanent Secretary (yes, I do believe that, and that it fits) of the Ministry of Home Affairs lost in the matter of her claim in the court about cyber humiliation.  I am sorry to hear, PS.  Now, welcome to the crowd, Madame, PS.  No! Not Live in Guyana; but those who have been vilely smeared, but about which the Guyana Police Force Cybercrimes Unit was a study in, er, ah, let’s see, absence and distance.  It is my understanding that the Hon. PS has some prints around that Live in Guyana PPP Gestapo strike force, and regular lime and caustic soda are not up to the job of scrubbing her slate clean.  A pity, that is.  But there is that ole saw: wha goh round duz cum round.  I have another one, a real hardcore truth, for all those heavyweights in PPP and PNC lands; I am like a black cat.  Do me wrong, and I have to turn around and feel sorry for those who did.  It is part of the hard truths story of my life, so be duly warned.

(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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• community, GHK Lall, Guyana, hard truths, High Speed Boat

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