Dear Editor,
The emotional intensity is nearly always fevered. It seems that every day, every issue is charged with the electricity of a campaign mentality, a sharp surge of crackling voltage. What is going on? Really going on?
It starts with people. Yes, they make the world go round; but it is ferociously turbulent here in sunstroke Guyana. I start reading and there is searing vehemence about this man, that woman, the other group, and the next construct.
In some minds, the election season is never ending, the dogfight for an edge (any edge) continues, and the stakes are waiting for the taking. So, it is lashing out at any body, even it is only a developing silhouette of one. Gotcha! Okay, now what?
To repeat myself, mistakes were made, and will continue to be made. But none are so egregious, as to bring down, to tarnish irreversibly. Style and methods can be soundly critiqued, but not motive. Not yet.
Now I tender that the issues of governance cannot be determined on shoestring thinking, and myriad disconnected synapses clamoring for traction and primacy. I further submit that some of these synapses are misfiring and misdirected, as they lack recognition of the extent, depth, and fluid boundaries of what is involved in national interests, national pursuits, and national realities. A few examples should assist.
The PetroCaribe deal was never liked, because it exposed this country to an adversary, benefits notwithstanding. But I moved on and left it alone. On the other hand, Amaila Falls was DOA, given the consortium of clandestine characters, and the conspiracy of calculators. Now there was an issue encompassing everything from bona fide corruption and incompetence to collaborating nefarious parties. The project was a plunderer’s dream, and obviously so. The challenge is for any well-meaning citizen to find a parallel that rises to that level today. I continue.
I have scant appreciation for Baishanlin. Candidly, it should have been gone, should go, in view of the excitement it provokes. But then the company (however it muddied the local waters) comes well-armed and well-protected. It is part of a bigger picture. And there is no picture bigger than that of the stalking Chinese Dragon. The plenipotentiary involvement says it all, most of which is not for public consumption.
What to do? I hear greater good, a potential pipeline of other ventures, and long-term prospects. A real superpower presence takes shape. The local citizenry are not the only ones scrutinizing closely; the ABC people (C is not for the Far East) are watchful, too. All of this subjects the government to condemnation, second guessing, armchair expertise, and undesired outside counsel. It is followed continuously by high powered microscopes seeking stray bullets, smoking guns, and corroborating DNA. And if that is not bad enough, it is, given the times, a walking, talking, traveling ultrasound with many details of its insides in the public domain.
It can manage all of this. It has to be open, unerringly ethical, and timely. No tricks; or else there might be limited political living. Keep pockets empty, intentions pure, practices clean, and there could be progress past the rough seas. Once hands are clean, and the Guyanese psyche understood and accommodated, then the dissonance is reduced to floundering in deep waters and flailing in the doldrums, hoping for a nibble.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
