Dear Editor,
I like President Ali’s New Year speech vowing to step on the “accelerator” on several progressive projects on his list. (“Gov’t to step on accelerator this year – Ali,” SN, January 1, 2023). Under the PNC/PPP for 60 years, Guyana is behind in everything although we are the richest country in CARICOM. Some say the PNC/and post-Jagan PPP are our generational curses. So, we must run longer, faster, harder to fix everything. If the President is successful, we can even call him “The Accelerator President.” The President needs to press the accelerator on the good things, and press the accelerator against the bad things. And once we are accelerating, set it on “cruise control” so the progress is continuous.
The President must be his own man and rein in the VP on the oil contract renegotiation issue. It was the President who said we would “review and renegotiate” everything, so we hold him accountable for his words. The nation rejects the notion that the PPP/PNC will not renegotiate the rich Stabroek Block that contains the abundance of our wealth that is supposed to fund all our dreams and wishes for a better life. The President must step on the accelerator towards renegotiation, and the VP must not step on the brakes when he does. Nation, without renegotiation, our oil will be finished and we would still be a poor people, and future generations will be destitute. The President must take “accelerator” lessons from Exxon.
While royalty and profits are still low and contracts have not been renegotiated (Exxon gets 86 ½% of all oil income while Guyana gets 13 ½%), Exxon and friends are moving full steam ahead to extract all our oil to make their shareholders filthy rich. The Exxon man has pressed the accelerator all the way down; their vehicle has no brakes or low gears. While the deal is lopsided in Exxon’s favour, everything is in high gear to extract our oil resources at full speed, while our current crop of sellouts in the Government and Opposition vow they will not renegotiate. The PPP’s promise – their “Manifesto Contract with Guyana” – to “review and renegotiate” during the election campaign has no “sanctity.” They tricked us.
Exxon is moving ahead speedily with logistics for projects whether they have the appropriate approvals or not. Government is using a useless statistic that is misleading when they say we have the fastest growing economy, when what is meant is that Exxon’s profits are growing and accelerating to the extent that they make enormous windfall profits, and they pay no taxes on their income. For Exxon, Guyana oil sweet bad, but it is bitter for us. Guyanese, did your personal economy grow by 50+%? Did your real income go up by 50+%, or was it Exxon’s income and economy that went up and they made “more profits than God,” as US President Biden said. So don’t be fooled by the often-quoted statistic that the economy grew by 50+% when you could have barely afforded to buy chicken at Christmas. That statistic means nothing to our poor people. How about a headline that says, “Guyanese income increased 50% because PPP Government renegotiated the worst oil contract in the world?”
Our President must make sure he presses the accelerator hard to establish modern systems to improve transparency, governance, accountability, disclosure of all agreements involving substantial natural resources and projects, audit of oil accounts, removing all inequities among the 10 regions. Press the accelerator to fix all water, health, flood control, power generation, educational inequities flowing from a useless NGSA exam, rampant crime, efficiency in the court system (appointing a full complement of magistrates, judges, and appointment of a CJ and Chancellor). Why are we still building small matchbox houses flat on the ground for poor people when we know that flooding is a big problem and the seal level is rising. Put the brakes on that, not the accelerator. What nonsense is that? Why in this oil-rich country that boasts it has 50+% economic growth, we have only 3 operable CT (Computerised Tomography) scan machines for the whole country? Isn’t that shameful? The President must step on the accelerator to stop corruption and kickback in procurement, awards of over-priced contracts, shoddy contract work being approved, and disposal of national assets and natural resources. The national aspiration is that 2023 will be a breakthrough year against our generational poverty. Recent pictures of the destitution in the Plastic City community and Parika Sea Dam Squatters are an embarrassment to an oil-rich country. Press the accelerator to fix that. It’s our wealth and our country, and we must care. Wake up Guyana!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall
