Latest update November 13th, 2024 1:00 AM
‘Guyana still shackled as outsiders pulling strings behind the scenes’ – Activist tells Oil Spill forum
Co-founder of Green heart movement, Sherlina Nageer during the oil spill forum
Kaieteur News – Although Guyana has celebrated 58 years of Independence, the country is still proverbially in shackles as the outsiders are calling the shots behind the scenes, so said Co-founder of the non-profit organization, Greenheart Movement, Sherlina Nageer.
She made the comment during an oil spill forum last week in observance of World Environment Day. Nageer in welcoming attendees to the forum, hosted at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown said, “Guyana just celebrated its 58th Independence…sometimes if you look around at the state of affairs and ask if we are actually independent, because it seems as if we still have masters, we are still shackled with the chains, it may not be obvious or made of iron, it seems as if the outsiders are pulling the shots and pulling the strings behind the scenes.”
She reminded persons at the forum of Quamina Gladstone, who fought in the Demerara Revolt of 1823 and encouraged over 10,000 enslave persons to rise up to demand their rights. Nageer urged, “Let’s remember also the incredible resilience of the Indigenous people, who are the first people of this land, who are still here and still resisting and safeguarding the natural worlds despite of all the genocide that their ancestors endure.”
The activist charged attendees to not only reflect but remember the struggles of their ancestors and moreover to ask themselves “what kind of ancestors, do we want to be and what kind of ancestors we would be for the generations now coming up”.
She was keen to note, “Just like the decisions our fore parents made to resist to maintain their culture, to stand against depression, so too with the decision we make now will affect the future of the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.”
Nageer’s comments come at a time when the government of Guyana has been accused of dancing to the tunes of the oil and gas companies operating in Guyana. In fact, the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed by the previous administration has been described as “shackling the country” to one of the world’s worst oil deals.
Previously, transparency advocate, Dr. Yog Mahadoe told this newspaper that the oil deal is a mockery to the country’s constitution as it attempts to shackle this country into unfair provisions to the benefit of the petroleum companies.
Mahadeo explained, “Of critical importance to me is the fact that we have not only allowed the Exxon contract to remove our wealth but are allowing them to effectively remove our constitutional right to elect a government that can create and enact laws on our behalf – that is, the contract mocks and neuters our Parliament’s ability to pass laws.” According to him, the PSA attempts to shackle the Government into financial and other lopsided deals. “It also attempts, in Article 32, to handcuff the Government away from contemplating changing any laws that can impact the Agreement to the economic detriment of the Contractor. By attempting to shackle the Government, it therefore attempts to fetter the entire population from getting a Government in place that can pass laws as desired by and for the people. This unconstitutionality threatens our right to elect a Government that will make the right decisions on our behalf.
Although both the government and opposition has accepted the lopsided nature of the contract, they have are both unwilling to invite the companies back to the negotiation table to ensure the country enjoys the benefits of the sector.
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