We need to question what we know and try to be more analytical instead of regurgitating what we have been fed

Aug 20, 2026 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I appeared with Timothy Jonas on the Globe Span Programme on the 1st July 2026 which topic was, “The Road to Prosperity Hindrances and Solutions”. I am forced to write as I cannot let what an influencer like Timothy said go unanswered. I was more convinced to respond when in a video he used the examples of GPL, bauxite and GuySuCo being run down under the PNC government to prove his ideological conditioning that government cannot run businesses efficiently.

I made a statement on the programme that the private sector in Guyana is weak and so the government should invest. Jonas response was that he has to rebut because what I said was dangerous. In my mind what, Jonas feels it is dangerous for me to suggest government should invest. He asked me to explain the failures but I had no time to counter his regurgitations that have been proven wrong over and over.

He said GuySuCo, Telecommunications and other industries were destroyed when Burnham nationalised. I have no problem with that statement but, when he uses Burnham’s failure to justify his ideological position that government should not own because they cannot run companies efficiently, I find that to be erroneous and exceptionally illogical.

The PPP government took power in 1992, most of the State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) were privatised except GuySuCo, Guyana Cooperative Insurance Service (GCIS) and GUYOIL, GAC, water and electricity. GAC was making profits and paying taxes. Then there was a particular issue re grounding of a wet lease aircraft and a need to pay $50,000 US. The fault was not the airline but civil aviation. Janet decided to privatise.

When privatised, the private owners sold the aircraft that was used to service the interior and that money repaid them for the privatisation. Then the company was stripped and sold in pieces. I believe Jerry Gouveia obtained the section at CJIA that Roraima Airways uses today. The private owners made money, but we lost our national airlines.

Fifty percent of the electricity company was privatised to a foreign company in 1999. They were managing the company and being paid a management fee. Well, they failed and gave up their share for one dollar in 2003. They made money, sold out many of the assets and then depended on contracting out services. I will discuss Guyana Cooperative Insurance Service (GCIS). I was a director, the late Rocky Mann was the Chairman. Most of the Directors were socialist inclined. It was a wreck. Workers were paid public servants wages. We developed the company, obtained one of the best international reassurances, lifted the workers’ salaries above those of the private insurance and we gave them bonus at Christmas. One time we wanted to give them one month but Bharat then Finance Minister said two weeks.

NIS had paid $9M for 44% of the shares. The shares were worth far more but we decided to sell for the same price because privatisation was in the air and we decided to sell to NIS, a worker’s organisation.

We had accumulated $100M over and above the required reserve statutorily required. So, when the decision was made to privatise, we recalled what happened when the PNC privatised GTT with $400M in the bank. So, we took a decision to distribute the $100M so the government got $51M, NIS got $44M and the small trade unions got $5M.

Then the privatisation came and we were flabbergasted as we were selling 51% of the company with NIS having 44% of the shares and the purchasing company was being given a management contract. When the management fees are subtracted, it would show far less profits. We were opposed but could not stop the sale.

We took a decision to pay the workers severance pay, because a new company was getting 51%, we had to protect workers. We decided to pay the workers severance pay. Bharat objected, Luncheon the HPS objected but we insisted. We were not going to sell the company with the excess money and not use same to pay the workers severance.

Luncheon came to convince us. I told him this was the PPP, a pro-working class party and no way we would not pay the workers severance. So, this was a success story. GUYOIL is state owned. Could you imagine if GUYOIL was not there to stabilise prices what the private sector would have done to us. You know profit maximisation is the objective of the private sector.

According to Google, there are “roughly 30 to 40 major Federal-level government corporations and independent commercial enterprises, while thousands more exist at municipal and State levels. According to Google Common sectors for State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) are power generation, water, oil/gas extraction, national airlines, railways, and major port authorities, banks, telecommunications.

Russia became a super power with State ownership. You would know privatisation created all the Russian oligarchs. Little Cuba with 65 years of brutal blockade has a life span of 79, of 99%, one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world far lower than USA. They produce all the skills they need free of cost to the students; free universal health care and we know the kind of help Cuba gave to us.

China, Norway, Sweden, Denmark over 49% of the economy are State-owned enterprises. China took 900m out of poverty in a short time. We need to understand that the economic elites control about 90% of the means of disseminating information so we should understand they would have filled our brains with a lot of misinformation. We need to question what we know and try to be more analytical instead of regurgitating what we have been fed.

Regards,

Rajendra Bisessar

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• Globe Span Programme, Letters, Rajendra Bisessar, Timothy Jonas

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