Perceptions camouflage pretensions

Dec 28, 2024 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Hard Truths…

By GHK Lall

Kaieteur News- SN’s December 17, 2024 editorial captioned, “Guyana’s petro status and the 2025 general elections” has its moments.  Things struggle to stay still thereafter.  I note the careful use of (apostrophes) what the Yanks call uplifted commas; one only, but a couple of times.  Prudence, indeed; one can never be too circumspect in this neighborhood.  ‘World class’ offshore strike by Exxon.  A ‘world class’ oil producer in Guyana.  Then, there was greater ‘space’ and ‘banana republic’ notes.  In the liberal use of those uplifts plenty territory is covered by SN.

Re that ‘world class’ strike, my question for Exxon’s Guyana President Alistair Routledge is ordinary: what about those other strikes?  How come no more exciting announcements about more commercially feasible discoveries?  In the building heat for renegotiation of the oil deal now more sour than sweet, discovery news hasn’t been forthcoming, dried up, since April 2022.  Aw shucks, even Tom Brady (NFL) and Virat Kohli (Cricket India) have had bad patches; even King James too (NBA).  In this instance of no news (new oil) that’s bad news.  Just seems slightly, ah, untoward to a tenderfoot.  May there be nothing that interferes, slows down, that ‘world class’ status.  Like more oil, more renegotiation noise.  Incidentally, SN lapsed in not mentioning Exxon’s world class accounting systems.  Just ask Mr. Routledge.  He seh suh heself; not I.  Just ask Big Bob (Gossai) who wrestled with the dutty job of cleaning up the accounting.  He massaged the numbers, did a fantastic job where 2, 1, and 4, (214) became 3.  Until it wasn’t so well regarded.  He lost his exceptional worker status, so proudly accorded him by one Alistair Routledge.  Oil does make men do funny things.  To sober up everybody, there is no laughter here.

Re the “dramatic transformation of global perceptions” all I say is poor Cheddi Jagan.  He couldn’t get a lousy US$6 million from any lending institution back in the day.  Today any Guyanese nonentity could go with a calabash stamped Made in Guyana and leave with multiples of what was denied him.  From ideology to commodity, a lesson in as the world turns.  The Yanks were orchestrators then, today they are gamechangers.  My point is straightforward: take away the oil and President Ali may be denied a visa, if not the courtesy of a handshake.  The other guy could get a seat in a cell.  Airfare on the house, of course.

Re the 2025 general elections, my first thought is do we have to have these things?  Oh yeah, the international presence will be here in force.  Can’t have the republic of manana degrade back to ‘banana republic’ status.  Here is an intriguing Jeopardy challenge: what does taking out oil from the equation of a country do to it?  Back to banana republic status, mister.  The global perceptions index is that measly, that tricky, that slippery.  In a country like Guyana, there doesn’t have to be many bananas for it to qualify.  Only top bananas.  Watch how the Yanks have taken over this country, even the language; and from control of the government to the opposition.

A pig is still a pig no matter the pigment of the lipstick; favorable global perceptions give due weight.  Those perceptions are for the time being, only as long as Guyana’s leaders keep the oil spigot gushing, and Exxon prospering.  The foreign observer brigade, SN, is not coming here during the 2025 general elections to secure democracy.  It is to secure the flow of oil, to shore up investor confidence, and to purge Guyana of its elections jumbies, once and for all time.  How daft can we be!  Democracy is the donkey that is pinned on dark-skinned people the world over.  From Christianity to democracy to modernity to civility, and it is always for some commodity.  Not even humanity is exempted.  How about some of that same civility for Guyanese humanity?  Ah, sanctity.  Suddenly, the sanctity of a world class strike by Exxon is more inviolable than the Holy Bible and all the ideals of democracy that these tricksters use to brainwash dumb suckers in poor, desperate Third World countries.

If a noisy citizen like me (consult John Hess) could hold Guyana’s leaders (all of them) in the regard that I do, then I urge my fellow citizens to ponder what the wise men across the globe think of them.  Those who are not peaches themselves, but know how the world functions behind closed doors and outside the back door.  So, the world comes here to ensure that their investment, their rewards, are safe for the future.  There is electoral democracy; then there is income statement democracy.  Guess which one trumps everything else?  Who the hell cares about a few brown and black people running around like lunatics quadrennially, and refusing to fix themselves?  Irresponsible and immature Guyanese cannot be allowed to tamper with the donuts.  So, in a petro state that is a banana republic that is held out as not a banana republic, there still must be hordes of Atilla rushing here to save Guyana from itself.  I have heard about save the children and save the whales.  Nobody makes a big deal of saving the oil.

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

(Perceptions camouflage pretensions)

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