A turkey in May from Turkey

May 08, 2024 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Hard Truths by GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – It is the merry month of May and Guyana is celebrating Thanksgiving.  A probable turkey all the way from Turkey to the turkeys here.  This is why I am so supportive of the PPP Government, especially President Irfaan ‘You want to see us fail’ Ali, and Vice President Bharrat ‘Not a cent more’ Jagdeo.  These brothers are real characters.  Market the moment, and mess around with the message.  An incandescent instance of intrigue from Istanbul.  Kapow!  Tek dah.  I marvel at the selling points with this barge from the Black Sea by way of the Bosphorus.  Jeez! I feel like I am back in Form 1.  Thanks, bruddah Jay for another lovely class of reeducation on what sells in Guyana, and what is withheld, as in kept under wraps.

Light bill will not increase.  Thank God for Jaggo!  The story dun rite deh.  Guyanese are so battered and bruised by blackouts that they will gratefully accept any relief from even a street bum, and Jagdeo is miles higher, not ever to be mistaken for a road hustler.  The big man said the word, and it is done. Let there be light.  Oh Lord (sorry Lord Jagdeo) let there be light.  Since the Guyanese people want light, then what the Guyanese need is what they will get.  This is where the road starts getting a little twist here, and a bump by the time the next block is reached.  How much is the real cost, the total cost, of this cooling, brightening, exciting package of energy from Turkey?  Like some seasoned street operator, the information has to be extracted from the Vice President with a pair of pliers, a knee on his chest, and a rubber hose held high over his head.  He wants his lawyer in attendance, so he does not incriminate himself.  How much is the damn thing going to cost Guyanese when the final bill is tallied?  Here is my story: whatever the cost-shared, hidden, ‘sunk’ and others of a similar type-let the boat come. I can’t be clearer than that, can I?  Or as the bright boys and girls of Guyana say pellucid. Should locals be perplexed as to what I mean by ‘sunk’ costs, I urge them not to think of economics and principles of accounts.  They should cast their minds on how the people’s business is done in this country: their money is sunk, and they sink with it.

From the energizing and electrifying (no puns at all), the starved and slapped around in Guyana heard from Jagdeo what Yankee peddlers call icebreaker: energy bills will stay the same.  Then, the cost of supply will be anywhere from US$.0.20 cents to close to US$.30 cents per kilowatt hour.  In the salesman trade that is what is called a teaser, and Guyanese got two of them in rapid succession from that most clever of political salesman Barrybhai Jagdeo. I have repeatedly warned my fellow Guyanese who would listen.  It is not so much what Jagdeo shares in public.  It is what he holds back and keeps under lock and key.  I should not have to say anything more.  Guyanese will get some blackout ease, let me take that position from now.  But sift through the details and there is the devil, a couple of them.  It is how Guyanese are being setup for another roasting in the oven.  The picture of a turkey drawn earlier should return and stick.

There is that US$1 million fee.  Now, is that a work of art, or what!  I wrap my head around who else could be having their fingers in that neat little smoothie, other than people of Turkish descent.  First, there was the teaser; now there is what Guyana’s policemen usually call an encourager.  A little grease goes a long way, all the way to Turkey.  For the skeptical, a helpful hand is extended.  To appreciate how rogues and brigands (thieves) operate, think like a rogue or brigand (thief).  It is my version of when in Rome, get an understanding of how the programs work, what makes the natives tick.  Look folks, if dese bannas would rip-off the people for chemotherapy and tricky exploits with oil money, it is but a short step to expand the shady business to energy.  Especially given the demand levels.  Guyanese don’t care how much the light costs [the country], just stop the dreaded blackouts, please.  That is music to the ears of politicians, including those making lots of noise about those who are looking to push de guvament down.

Like a good sales script, there are those components that are trickling out of the government, i.e., Governor General Jagdeo.  Maintenance costs.  Operations costs.  Charter costs.  If I hear that word [costs] one more time, I will lose my carefully tended control.  David Patterson had to be the bad guy and warn Guyanese about US$200 million that could be hanging over their heads with this powerboat, when all is sold, bought, and resold by Jagdeo to the Guyanese people.  Jagdeo is the GPL, so not to worry, Guyanese are in good hands.  Just like how he and Ali have the first Nandlall, the second one better be ready to be yanked around as if on a string.

Must stop as the light faded, but doan tek wurreez.  I can see in the dark.  I think Patterson (Mr.) US$200 million could be a bargain.  With BJ, it is the way.  Thanksgiving in May with a turkey from Turkey.  I really should be dealing with Con Edison and not these con games prospering around here.

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

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• GHK Lall, Guyana, hard truths, Irfaan, Turkey

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