A bank setup for a bank robbery

Jun 14, 2026 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

Hard Truths by GHK Lall

(Kaieteur News) – Congratulations to the PPP Govt for the vision of a Guyana Development Bank to serve little citizens. Thoughtful. Well-liked. When things get too thoughtful, dislike creeps forward. What the details say? Both upfront and obscured.

There’s a $40B lending chest. Small Guyanese should benefit. On paper, in theory. In numbers, in the hoped-for reality. Then, the surprising takes hold, gives a good, stiff shake. The undesired kind. Whoever helped craft this proposed legislation, did a number on Guyanese; a pending hatchet job. It astonishes that a law-in-waiting could be so slapdash, almost cavalier. Recall that $40B taxpayer dollars are flying around, up for grabs. Frankly, I expected a more robust, watertight, tamper-proofed piece of proposed legislation, which is as good as law from now. With an unassailable seven votes in reserve, there’s only one outcome. The president’s pen.

After the clamor over the gaps in the Xmas-packaged Natural Resource Fund, the PPP Govt didn’t learn anything, didn’t care about Guyanese objections. If the appearance of the Guyana Development Bank is depressing, some of its substance is upsetting. No penalties for wrongdoing for tricky, slippery, bank officials. Only a PPP-conceived bank can that be. Takes significant craftiness to introduce a bill in parliament with such a glaring deficit. Reflexively, a question comes. Is the PPP brain trust plan for this Guyana Development Bank to operate as a PPP Govt sponsored chit system (a wink-and-nod one)? One replenished annually? Or, a PPP Govt credit card (unlimited)? In other words, come and get it. Grab all that’s wished. Don’t worry about payback, that day doesn’t exist. Who’s going to get penalised: stripped, fined, jailed steel bars for company, express regret? Who is there to represent the best in honest and vigilant oversight of the $40 billion? There’s another one, which indicates how jittery the PPP Govt is.

Even directors who act in good faith are not indemnified under the law. My interpretation is bulletproof: play along, get along, or a long shadow hangs over the head of those who prioritize principles, doing right by Guyanese, and that $40B stash/slush fund. In other words, no talking, no whistleblowing. One is blamed, all are blamed. A law so neat that it ties up all the stray ends tightly. The stray dog, the uncontrolled variable is the independent media. No wonder the PPP sabotaged, sickened, then strangled one of its arms (Stabroek) out of existence. It’s a classic PPP manoeuvre Cover the wicket nicely. Nobody gets out, no one gets ideas (appeal) and nothing and no one can get through. To sift through the garbage and determine how hard Guyanese have been hit.

The key concerns for a stranger like me boil down to these areas. First, how much of this $40B is going to reach Guyana who can put to constructive use? Second, how many from the PPP network are going to raid that Development Bank? After all, it’s free money. Just like procurement money. Third, how much will Guyanese know about the real workings and dispositions of that $40B, and when?

Chartered Accountant Chris Ram noted that the finance minister selects all the directors. The government’s logic is compelling. Its own trusted operators know how the PPP business model works. Look out for self, look but don’t see, and it looks like nothing happened. With no provision in the law, no law is broken. No penalties, no worries. When I insist that the PPP Govt is crime-minded, crime-ridden, its people get vex. The government is clever enough to exclude penalties that guard taxpayer dollars. But cleverer still to include what protects itself (handpicked hacks). The Development Bank then converts to a pending bank robbery. Hopefully, some li’l citizens get some seed money. PPP operators can’t be so scraven and teef all de $40B.

(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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bank robbery, GHK Lall, Guyana Development Bank, PPP

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