H@rd Truths by GHK Lall – Qataris and their luxuries

Feb 22, 2024 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Kaieteur News – In the spirit of Guyanese hospitality, I rollout the red carpet for the Qataris and their bringing of luxury to this country.  President Ali was at his fullest flush, overflowing with arms held wide open: welcome to Thomas Lands.  Welcome to the Qatari brotherhood with their US$300M for a 5-star hotel, and other luxury attachments.  My thinking was that 5-stars alone indicate the lap of luxury to be lived in for those coming to see what they can get out of Guyana.

The Qataris are here, but does it have to be there on Carifesta Avenue?  How about an airport structure, so that foreign investment dignitaries do not have to deal with the long trek to Georgetown, wayward Guyanese road users, and the delicate sprawl of Albouystown and the La Penitence municipal market. Lots of virgin land there, and a helipad could help to bypass all of that, but there is the downside: overhead noise could be a problem.  Carifesta Avenue, a lane with its long and lush history, has now been reduced to the banality of cheap commerce.  Given that it is an assembly of princes, as in the Qatar Asset Group, involved, I am weighing why the need for the hush hush atmosphere.  The Qatari principal could be a front, and I smell blood, and it is not of an Englishmen, but the blood and sweaty palms of certain Guyanese men.

The President spoke of sustainable development, and the question persists: for whom, majesty?  Whenever I search for Guyanese, I hear about hundreds of jobs, and before that is fathomed, another sweet piece of Guyana is gone in another sweet deal done in secrecy.  I hate to say this, but PPP governance has become a combination of the CIA, La Cosa Nostra, and a fella named Lavrenty Beria, Josef Stalin’s dirty tricks man.  For local edification, La Cosa Nostra subs for the Mafia, and it translates to “Our Thing.”  “Our Thing” and ‘our turn’ have become the hallmark of governance in Guyana under the PPP.  When they are wrapped up so deeply in “Our Thing”, this explains as to why there is next to nothing for Guyanese.  Guyana is the PPP’s plaything.  Lands and Surveys say that Thomas Lands if State and not city.  Aye, aye, mate.  The anxiety comes from studying Emperor Ali: he comports himself as though he is the State.  His every move is devoted to out-Jagdeoing Jagdeo.  Danger lurks.

It was the same President Ali at the sod turning who had a few gems of enlightenment to share.  By the way, the nation’s president is getting so proficient at sod turning, ribbon-cutting ribbon, and cleaning up that he should take up those duties fulltime.  His Excellency informed locals that with the 261 rooms from Qatar with love, another 1300 of such welcoming baronial provisions stand ready to cater to excited foreigners all hot and sweaty to get their portion of this truly Magnificent Province.  My focus is more on the mundane side.  It would seem that with 1300 of such hospitality suites (or whatever), Guyana would have the proud distinction of more hotel rooms available for arrivals from global ports, but having less than those 1000 plus rooms on the market for locals to find long-term lodging.  It is obvious that President Ali gave short thrift to that nuisance piece of information, and got carried away with the prospects for his Qatari fellow travelers.  And whoever else in the local domain has positioned themselves to be a part of this hotel investment package.

It is not unreasonable to think that, given their own tortured history with hydrocarbons and swashbuckling foreign corporate oil powers (Americans and Europeans) that President Ali would have been astute enough to tap into their knowledge base and hard experience to learn a considerable amount about oil and gas.  Okay, scrap considerable, I settle for some, since capacity to absorb could be a factor.  But there was the president championing the partnership with princes about wood, steel, and sand for a hotel.  It is as if every opportunity is avoided, every subterfuge employed, any and every amount of yardage that could be found, is brought to bear so as not to have any insightful conversations about oil.  Meaning, how to get the best out of it.  How to learn as much as could be from those who were there long before us, whether near the sands of the Sahara, or the waters of the Gulf.

But a hotel it is, and the usual secrets and disregard for some semblance of process on full display.  Oil secrets, gold secrets, and now hotel secrets.  I have to ask: is the PPP Government a secret society?  A national criminal conspiracy a State mystery, is what serves as accountability to the Guyanese people.  I am thinking of taking up fulltime residence at the Qatari Inn, if I can scrape up the cash.  It is so that I could come in for some intelligence on how these arrangements work, these types of dealing unfold and flourish.

(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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• attachments, GHK Lall, investment, luxury, Qataris

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