Dear Editor,
Speaking at the Oil and Gas Governance Network’s Symposium (www.OGGN.org) held last week in New York, prominent Attorney and Accountant Chris Ram, in his presentation, suggested that those concerned with renegotiation of the oil contracts and the related legal actions, should create some kind of Legal Defence Support Fund. This is an idea whose time has come and I encourage all Guyanese everywhere to chip in when a fund has been set up. Legal fees and appeals are not cheap. The civic society group, “Our Wealth, Our Country” (owocgy.com) is considering launching a “Go Fund Me” page to raise funds for this worthy cause.
In the lawsuits filed so far, Mr. Glenn Lall, in great magnanimity and nationalism, is funding his lawsuit out of personal funds, and the folks who filed the environmental lawsuits seem to have funded those efforts without fundraising. These lawsuits have become necessary because the people who should have been leading these efforts – the Government and the Opposition – have their boots firmly planted on the side of the rapacious oil barons against their own impoverished, destitute people, whose existence over the past six decades have been one of “persistent poverty” under both the PNC and PPP. Instead of filing against the oil companies to repair loopholes and fix defective clauses to get more money for its people in keeping with their election campaign promises, the PPP Government is defending the bad PNC oil contract and is on the same side with Exxon. The Exxon side and Government side has tons of lawyers and money amassed against Mr. Glenn Lall and a heroic young attorney Mohamed Ali fighting for the whole country to be better off. In the meanwhile, the Opposition is “tripping,” and uses the battery of attorneys on their side to file many frivolous lawsuits, instead of supporting the legal defence team of the “renegotiation” movement. History will judge the PNC harshly, which committed the original oil contract sin.
In Guyana today, it is hard to find attorneys who would take a case against the oil companies or against the government. There is an Attorney guy who wants to be our President. This oil case would have been a good chance for him to prove his mettle. But that was the guy when asked whether he supports renegotiation, the first words out of his mouth were “sanctity of contract.” Many of the attorneys today were funded by the taxpayers when they attended the UWI portion of their legal studies. Some got scholarships. Where is their loyalty to the country when we needed them the most to fight the people’s battles, at such a time as this? Nation, make no mistake about it, without a better oil deal from renegotiation, the country is going nowhere for our poor people. Don’t be fooled by new hotels, shore bases and related oil infrastructure that are subsidized by state tax-free waivers, and duty-free concessions. That alone is not progress. Poor people would not be better off. Progress would be when we have created a new compensation structure based on the principle of “a living wage,” a system of unemployment benefits, pensions for all including the self-employed and housewives, with built-in annual Cost-of-Living Adjustments, etc. Using cash grant pittances as a substitute for a new system and structure is temporary and useless for long-term improvement.
So Nation, neither the Government nor Opposition would fight for us in this oil renegotiation issue. We are on our own. We have to do it ourselves, and remember how to vote in 2025. Your support for this upcoming Legal Defence Fund for all oil contract renegotiation cases would be very important. It’s our wealth and our country, and we must care. As Guyanese poet Martin Carter said, “All are involved, all are consumed.” Wake up Guyana!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall
