Dear Editor,
First oil is upon us and Guyanese should be rejoicing unreservedly; however, despite having had four years and seven months to prepare for this day, the Granger administration’s dereliction of duty has resulted in us greeting first oil with our pants around our ankles. Guyana is in a state of chaos due to the direct actions of David Granger, we have lost our parliamentary democracy; for the Petroleum sector we have no legally enacted sovereign wealth fund and we have no Local Content Policy. What we do have is a ‘National Petroleum Day’ which is indicative of how Mr. Granger’s mind works.
Granger has always demonstrated a fixation with pomp, ceremony, and style. The importance of ‘substance’ has eluded his entire period in Office. We began with the Golden Jubilee and have endured his tedious medal ceremonies, capricious renaming of buildings and institutions and the ‘good life’ speeches ad nauseam. What we have not seen is the work ethic that makes things like ‘first oil’ possible.
David Granger and APNU+AFC have always been ill-informed, visionless and unable to translate promises into reality. There is no difference in the current APNU+AFC disbelief in the PPP promise to deliver fifty thousand jobs and the old APNU+AFC disbelief in the discovery of oil. People who do not understand that you have to toil tirelessly to accomplish anything of substance can only pose for cameras and cut ribbons on the backs of the hard work of those who do.
APNU+AFC have swallowed their pride and accepted the Marriott was a visionary project, and now they are seeking to claim credit for an oil exploration contract signed by Janet Jagan in 1999 via a proclamation. Granger should be ashamed to even make a public appearance on this third Friday in December, for his actions since the historic No-confidence motion passed this day one year back will forever guarantee his name lives in infamy. The ill-advised attempt to sell three million barrels of oil before the first gallon reached the surface was also exposed to the public this week adding to his shame.
Guyanese will rejoice the flow of oil as we rejoiced in the emphatic Yes! Yes! Yes! Of Charrandass Persaud, but we are tempered in our celebrations as we know that there still remains the struggle to return Guyana to a state of parliamentary democracy via free and fair elections. Raise a glass to our dear land, enjoy all of the season’s cheer and blessings, and be secure in the knowledge that while you celebrate, we who care are unrelenting in our struggle on this road to Zion.
Yours faithfully,
Robin Singh
