The Arithmetic of Stubbornness

Sep 04, 2024 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – Maths has proven a problem for some of our politicians. And it now seems that the disease has spread to our children with almost seven out of every ten students failing the subject.

A simple mathematical truth remains stubbornly unaddressed: the equation that should have turned oil into wealth. Glenn Lall, with a bluntness that makes politicians squirm, has done the math. He’s not talking literally, but rather figuratively, about everyone staying home to sip champagne while the oil pumps work overtime. Instead, he speaks to a bitter reality: if Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had shown even a hint of financial prudence, Guyanese might not just dream of wealth but swim in it.

Lall’s calculations are not flights of fancy. They are grounded in the cold, hard numbers of a nation that has struck black gold yet continues to live hand-to-mouth, perpetually indebted, with 40% of its national budget coming from borrowed funds. His formula for prosperity is no secret: ring-fence the oil projects, stop giving ExxonMobil a free pass, scrutinize their expenses with the rigor of a tax auditor on steroids, and for the love of this nation, raise the pitiful 2% royalty that reeks of desperation. If Jagdeo had reduced the tax concessions that haemorrhage our national income and secured a deal that benefits the people of Guyana, we might now be lenders, not borrowers.

But here we are, a nation blessed with untold natural resources, behaving like paupers at a feast. Why? Because Bharrat Jagdeo, in his infinite wisdom, refuses to entertain the idea of renegotiation. To cling to a bad deal in the face of overwhelming evidence is not just stubborn; it’s a betrayal. Glenn Lall has pointed out that if Guyana managed its oil wealth wisely, the story of this nation would be different. Instead of borrowing, we could be lending; instead of scrimping, we could be thriving.

Yet, Jagdeo continues to sidestep the issue. The offers from those willing to help renegotiate the contract are ignored, dismissed like so many pesky flies. One wonders what kind of arithmetic he is doing.

Our leaders would do well to remember that oil is not the first resource to grace Guyana with the promise of wealth. Before the lure of black gold, our land yielded treasures of a different kind—gold, timber, diamonds, and bauxite. These riches, gleaming beneath our soil, were meant to uplift our nation, to build schools and hospitals, to pave roads and fill the coffers of a young republic. If these resources had been managed with foresight and integrity, perhaps we would not find ourselves so enamored with oil today. The wealth from bauxite, gold, timber and diamonds could have provided a solid economic foundation, ensuring that the fruits of our land benefited the many, not the few.

Instead, we allowed foreign multinationals to plunder these resources, treating our country as a vast, open pit from which they could extract wealth with impunity. They came, they dug, and they left us with little to show for their extraction of our wealth. The scars in the earth remain, a stark reminder of what was taken and what was left behind. A small child recently fell into an abandoned mining pit recently and drowned.

Our leaders, enamoured with short-term gains and dazzled by promises of investment, have repeatedly failed to secure deals that would ensure the prosperity of future generations. The story of our gold, diamonds, and bauxite is a cautionary tale, one that should guide our dealings with ExxonMobil and all who seek to tap into our natural wealth. If we do not learn from the past, if we continue to allow our resources to be exploited without fair compensation, then oil, too, will leave us with nothing but empty promises and empty stomachs.

Glenn Lall’s call for renegotiation is not just reasonable; it’s a cry for justice. It’s a demand that the people of this nation, who have waited so long for their moment in the sun, should not be left out in the cold while the oil companies make off with the lion’s share. If Bharrat Jagdeo wants to do right by the people of Guyana, if he truly wishes to be remembered as a leader who brought prosperity to his nation, then he must abandon his stubborn brand of arithmetic. The arithmetic of stubbornness is a dangerous game, and in the end, it is the people of Guyana who will pay the price. Jagdeo must face the uncomfortable truth that the current deal with ExxonMobil is a bad one, and he must have the courage to do something about it. Until then, we are left to ponder a nation’s potential squandered, its wealth siphoned off while its people are fed empty promises.

(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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• Both President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, haemorrhage, Peeping Tom, politicians, Vice President

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