Dear Editor,
The Coalition has been plying a narrative, over the last few years, that we should accept the atrocious oil deal with Exxon because the US would help defend the company and our country against Venezuelan aggression. But it is now hard to contemplate that the coalition believed its own rhetoric. Given its recent defiance of many foreign powers to ensure a free and fair election process, does the Coalition still believe foreign powers would come to its rescue in Guyana’s time of need?
We now have a more immediate threat to worry about and that is the coronavirus. An essential armour against the coronavirus are ventilators. The cost for ventilators runs around US$30,000. We know the Coalition is seeking about US$5 million from the World Bank to fight the coronavirus. If the entire amount were to be used to buy ventilators that would mean, we could only afford 166. For a country of 780,000 citizens that number seems alarmingly inadequate.
Foreign powers who are usually willing to help poor countries for one-off disasters are now occupied with their own local disasters. Countries like the US and Britain are locked in battle to protect their own citizens; hence, it may be months before they can send help to a country like Guyana. On June 1st, 2019, Dr Mangal estimated, in a letter in the press, that Guyana should have received a US$1 billion signing bonus. If we had been proactive about renegotiation, we would not be in this reaction mode begging for US$5 million to fight this virus.
What is one of the main purposes of a government? It is to ensure the safety of its people. The local press, bloggers and others have been doing their part to educate Guyanese how to fight this invisible enemy. But we need a proper and proactive government to protect us from this enemy. We need to ensure our hospitals are stocked with gloves and masks and we have enough ventilators.
The US, EU, and Commonwealth have warned about sanctions if an illegal government is sworn in. Is the Granger Caretaker government delusional to think that if our country spirals into a medical crisis, foreign entities that have supplied aid in the past would rush to our rescue? No, as can be seen in the press, these foreign powers are spending their efforts warning about an illegal government being sworn into office here in Guyana instead of worrying about sending us critical medical supplies.
The need to have a legitimate government to fight the real and immediate threat of the coronavirus is urgent. But the Coalition seems obsessed with tying up the elections process in the courts than protecting the Guyanese people. We cannot afford our country to be in a weakened position because of a handful of power-hungry and deceitful people. Let the voices of the Guyanese people be heard in a peaceful manner that our country immediately needs a legitimate and proactive government to protect our people.
Yours faithfully
Darshanand Khusial
