Who is watching the nation’s wealth?

Jul 09, 2026 Editorial, News

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Editorial…

(Kaieteur News) – It has often been said that the true measure of a nation is not only what it debates, but what it chooses to ignore. That observation could not be more fitting for Guyana today.

For days, the national conversation has been consumed by President Irfaan Ali’s sprawling cattle, sheep, poultry, aquaculture and cash-crop enterprise. Questions have been raised about how the President acquired and financed the operation. Those questions are legitimate. In any democracy, allegations involving public officials must be subjected to independent scrutiny.

The relevant constitutional and law enforcement authorities must do their jobs without fear or favour. No one, including the President, should be above accountability.

But while the authorities investigate those matters, Guyanese should ask themselves another question: why is there not equal, or even greater, public outrage over the stewardship of the country’s natural wealth?

The Stabroek Block is among the most valuable petroleum discoveries on the planet. It represents wealth capable of transforming Guyana for generations. Yet this country continues to operate under an agreement that leaves it collecting a mere two percent royalty, while longstanding concerns remain about the country’s ability to independently verify oil production and rigorously audit billions of US dollars in recoverable costs.

Every questionable cost recovered is money that does not find its way into the pockets of the Guyanese people.

Where is the national outcry over that? Where are the marches demanding better terms for Guyana? Where are the calls for greater transparency, stronger oversight and accountability from those entrusted with safeguarding the nation’s patrimony? Where are the demands for resignations over the continuation of an agreement that many experts have described as one of the most lopsided petroleum contracts in the modern world?

If Guyanese can become passionately engaged over the ownership of one farm, surely they should be just as passionate about how an entire nation is being compensated for resources worth hundreds of billions of US dollars.

Nor is this concern confined to oil.

Gold, diamonds, bauxite, timber, manganese and other natural resources continue to leave Guyana every day. Foreign companies operate across vast concessions extracting wealth that belongs, ultimately, to every citizen. Every ounce of gold exported, every tree harvested and every barrel of oil pumped is part of a finite inheritance that can never be replaced. The question is whether Guyana is receiving fair value in return.

That debate deserves relentless public scrutiny. Instead, it is too often drowned out by the political controversy of the day.

The imbalance is striking. Much has been said about approximately 150 acres associated with the President’s farming operations. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the millions of acres covered by petroleum licences, mining permits, forestry concessions and other resource agreements that collectively determine the future prosperity of every Guyanese.

This is not an argument against investigating the President’s affairs. It is an argument against selective indignation.

Public accountability cannot begin and end with one politician or one parcel of land. It must also extend to those who negotiate, administer and oversee the extraction of Guyana’s vast natural wealth. Those decisions will determine whether future generations inherit a prosperous nation or merely memories of resources that have long since been exhausted.

Every day, oil is pumped, gold is mined and timber is harvested. Every day, irreversible decisions are made about assets that belong not to any government, corporation or political party, but to the people of Guyana.

The controversy surrounding one farm may dominate today’s headlines. The management of Guyana’s natural resources will shape the nation’s destiny for decades.

The relevant authorities must investigate every credible allegation surrounding the President’s farm and allow the evidence to lead wherever it may. But Guyanese must also demand with equal force and unwavering determination that the nation’s oil, gold, forests and minerals are managed transparently, negotiated fairly and protected fiercely.

For when the last barrel of oil has been lifted and the last ounce of gold exported, it will not matter who owned one farm. What will matter is whether an entire nation received its rightful share of its own inheritance.

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• cash-crop enterprise, Editorial, nation's wealth, President Irfaan Ali

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