Dear Editor,
Last week I referred to a popular column written by R.B.O Hart titled ‘Things that bother me.’
This week I am reminded of a world-wide series known as ‘Believe it or Not’ by Ripley. It identified things and statements that actually occurred but which seem beyond belief.
After listening to the voice of our Great Saviour, our illustrious President Dr. Ali, Believe it or not by Ripley, came to mind. His Excellency with pomp and pride proclaimed among other things, that over US$500B is our potential from forestry, US$35B from gold, and that we will be harvesting shortly 1.2m barrels of oil per day and in sanctimonious tones gave massive monies you will get from stones, quarries, and sand among other items
His Public Relations Advisors must be congratulated as I now do for what in essence is Powerfully Proclaimed Piffle.
Dear Editor, any rational citizen irrespective of their political beliefs must pose this question to our Head of State. Recently in the National Assembly, the Commis-sioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority stated that his complement of staff did not allow his agency to check, monitor and to verify the accuracy of information supplied by the various oil companies and others involved in the extraction of our non-renewable minerals and allied resources.
It is therefore safe to assume that we the owners of our natural resources are at the mercy of those large conglomerates, but believe it or not, we are rushing to give out more and more of our patrimony.
This has been the dilemma of many small and medium size independent countries for some time now on the figures and therefore information being submitted by the oil giants and I assume by other groups extracting our natural resources. This simply means that we are unable to keep pace with the extraction of our precious non-renewable natural resources.
Speaking with highly placed and well informed family members, I was reminded that development by these large companies is not the same as the development for the people, the owners of these God-given resources.
The point was made that here and elsewhere, the mighty conglomerates proceed apace with the extraction of our resources that do not necessarily benefit proportionally the owners of those resources.
A truly caring Government must engage all the other elements and sectors in society so that when they speak with those who come to exploit to avoid being as we say, short-changed. A country like Guyana must always be willing to welcome agencies, companies and establishments that come to develop and make optimum use of our natural and human resources.
A country like Guyana with experience garnered over the last hundred odd years must ensure that we control external forces by taking account of our absorbability. In other words, don’t bite off more than you can chew and be reminded of the philosophical underpinnings of those mighty men who established the Non-Aligned Move-ment, Nkrumah, Nehru, Nasser and Tito. We must not betray them.
Here is a hypothetical example. Company X digs out two acres of our hardwoods valued at $100.00. They declare $60.00. Revenue amounts to $20.00. However, the damage done to the environment would cost this and succeeding generations one hundred times more to repair.
As my family members observed, development yes, but for whose benefit? Editor, this mad rush to have foreigners develop all they can find in our waters, land and air is senseless. Unfortunately, this project of what this PPP administration is calling development is supported by a heavily funded and a well oiled (forgive the pun) information propaganda machine.
Dear Editor, at the end of this deceit and debauchery of our country, what will we say to our children and their children when they gaze upon areas where there are no birds, no animals, no flowers to soothe our eyes and no bees to pollinate the communities to sustain life, when the beautiful streams of clear black water are now murky, chemical infected that even reptiles dare not venture.
The architects of our independence struggle and those who fought against imperial domination, the ravages of colonial exploitation must look down with shame and anger. Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, Cheddi Jagan, Forbes Burnham must be shedding tears.
The PPP in the 70s were opposed to what we called party paramountcy but today this is now the norm. For example, Press Conferences to brief the Nation on important matters are being held at the Headquarters of the Party in Office. Believe it or Not.
The Party identifies the top brass of our Police Force, and boasts of the billions budgeted to make the GPF efficient, modern equipment, vehicles, cameras, etc. Yet we have yet to solve the murder of Paper Shorts and the recent shooting of Former Chief Education Officer and two recent shootings at West Ruimveldt and Sophia. No one has yet been arrested nor charged. Believe it or Not.
Yet our Police Force and the powers that be can’t find the previously ubiquitous Mr. Su, so that my good friend can’t sue Su. Believe It or Not.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green
Elder
