President Ali and VP Jagdeo must face hard questions, provide the right answers

Oct 12, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Every day in Guyana which is supposed to be the richest country per citizen, only madness seems to be evident. All government services that should be working in the country are failing citizens who depend on these services for survival.  Notably, the heat is getting unbearable, and as Glenn Lall predicted, VP Jagdeo blamed it on climate change, and not from the flaring and dumping of superheated water into the ocean from Exxon’s oil operations.

Have Guyanese become robots and cyborgs with no humanity, sanity, or conscience? How can someone see their elderly and sick family members stifle in this heat and don’t feel for them? How can someone send their children to school with empty lunch kits in this heat and have them in heated classrooms all day long knowing they would suffer, yet saying nothing? Dr. Vincent Adams said his EPA had already agreed with Exxon to minimize flaring and reinject the superheated water back into the wells to avoid this heat nightmare.  Yet the PPP’s EPA changed it to unlimited flaring and dumping by Exxon while boasting of carbon credits by President Ali, VP Jagdeo, and Ashni Singh, while Guyanese stifle in the heat.

How can Guyanese tolerate this madness in addition to no unlimited oil spill liability protection insurance without saying anything? President Ali and VP Jagdeo ranted about the renegotiation of the oil contract while in opposition, but now saying they didn’t mean that. Current Opposition Leader Norton said the word renegotiation, then wrote a letter retracting his statement.  What would spook Norton so much that he would forego his nightcap to pen a letter in the night to retract his statement on renegotiation, alongside President Ali and VP Jagdeo’s retractions?

Thanks to those providing information on the oil and resource sectors, Guyanese locals and abroad are becoming more informed and are demanding answers to key questions on the management of these sectors. This along with the Washington conference by Black organizations has caused those in charge to become uncomfortable and the PPP have now gone into damage control launching their own information campaign on social media. Recently Gail Texiera, Clement Rohee, and Anil Nandalall held a podcast praising the PPP for emancipating Guyana from darkness on Oct 5, 1992.

In 1992 the late Desmond Hoyte was President, he restarted Guyana’s economy from Burnham’s dead economy, he imported food back into Guyana quashing the failed Burnhamite food ban.  He created the QRG task force which eliminated the kick-down-door crimes.  He gave interest on bank deposit of 33% which benefitted Indo’s who had their money in the bank.  He brought in rice millers so rice farmers were able to bargain for paddy price from their own home which they never did before. Under Hoyte GuySuCo was meeting its production targets causing workers to earn extra days’ pay regularly.  The fishing and agriculture sectors were booming, local Guyanese particularly Indos controlled large sectors of the economy like transportation and small businesses, Guyanese never paid for water and the light bill was negligible.

Most of all, in 1992 Guyanese were owners of the Bauxite Company, Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (GPC), the AT&T Shares, the Sanata Complex, the gold, other minerals, and timber concessions.  Hoyte achieved the above because he fired incompetent Burnhamites and replaced them with qualified people, some of them Indos like me. Under the PPP, particularly Jagdeo, all the above went into reverse, I guess the light the PPP brought to Guyana came from the blackout-riddled GPL. MP Gail Texiera said when she took over the Ministry of Health, the hospitals were in a deplorable state, what state are they now in MP Gail Texiera? The PPP says they are the champions of democracy in Guyana, yet the President doesn’t want Guyanese asking him about oil, the parliamentary speaker says he is not obligated to provide information on key issues, and also says words like incompetence and corruption should be banned.  Maybe he will also ban the words parasites, kabakamites and termites.

The VP doesn’t want to provide information on the oil sector as people will nitpick to attack him.  The VP has changed his defense to tough questions about oil and resources from, how he has dealt with those issues already, to now, these are Glenn Lall’s delusions, ring-fencing as per him in opposition was good, but him now in charge ring-fencing is bad. The VP said if he taxes foreign companies they will leave and Guyanese will lose their jobs.  This is utter nonsense, as these foreigners need Guyana’s resources for their survival, instead of him calling their bluff on taxes, he is bluffing Guyanese. The VP’s case for the gas-to-energy plant is that the excess power will be needed to power the bauxite plant.  Why reporters don’t ask him if, by the time the gas-to-energy plant comes on stream, if the bauxite will be all gone by then?

The VP said when asked to comment on Glenn Lall’s tax case, said he doesn’t comment on court cases, then why is he opposing and appealing Justice Sandil Kissoon’s ruling? President Ali went on a ranting spree in response to ex-President Ramoutar on the renegotiation of the oil contract, saying everyone is now an expert on oil.  The president should know, Guyana has the worst system when it comes to monitoring, transparency, regulations, and accounting for its oil sector making it easy for anyone to rightfully to become an expert in Guyana’s oil sector by highlighting the mismanagement. President Ali and VP Jagdeo should also know they are also oil experts because renegotiation came out of their own mouths, any leader who cannot represent their own words are deceivers more than they are leaders.

The PPP in opposition also said Guyana should have an independent petroleum commission, now instead of AG Nandlall forming this commission, he is appealing Justice Kissoon’s ruling for parent company guarantee insurance for Guyana. If the President and VP are tired of tough questions, they can push for renegotiating the oil contract, they can enforce Guyana’s corporate tax rate on gross profits on all foreign companies in Guyana, they can enforce and fine companies for environmental violations, they can fight for the preservation of indigenous people lands and rights against mining and oil companies and the enforce the oil blocks relinquishment.

President Ali and VP Jagdeo say they are tired of being criticized on the oil and resource sector management, well then, they can do the right things and receive praise instead of criticism. If the President and VP are tired of tough questions, they better get some rest and come back, Guyanese are waking up to the exploitation of their black gold, yellow gold, and other riches and have decided not to be quiet anymore and will not allow Guyana to become Exxonland. To those hosting podcasts like Leonard Girdharie, Frederick Kissoon, Norman Browne, Sherod Duncan, Mark Benschop, Rickford Burke, David Hinds, and others, if you all want a better Guyana, why don’t you ask your listeners in Guyana to join Glenn Lall’s protest on Oct 27? Instead of repeating ancient politics and the old mentality of PNC Afros and PPP Indos.

Yours truly,

R. David

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• Ashni Singh, Government, President Ali, R. David., VP Jagdeo

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