Dear Editor,
Images of our Government side and Opposition side meeting and having a united front against Venezuela’s spurious claims on Guyana’s territory speak well of our leaders. At a time when our national well-being is threatened, our leaders have put aside pettiness and are united that Guyana’s boundaries are set in stone, and we will not yield a blade of grass to the bullies. This time there is no whining about who didn’t shake outstretched hands, and silliness about who is installed, not elected. Our leaders are showing maturity at a time when it matters most. They have set aside “expose, oppose, and depose” to say to the enemy that we are united about our borders. We must be a united nation when our best interests are threatened. We must be “One Guyana” when enemies rise to deprive us of our land and natural resources. Thanks to Venezuela for making us One Guyana!
So why can’t we be united against the similar threat of the imperialist, neo-colonialist Exxon working hard to deprive us of billions and billions of dollars in refusing to renegotiate a bad oil contract? Our sovereignty is at stake here too. Despite all the hype and hyperboles about being the fastest growing economy on Planet Earth, we remain a poor, backward Third World country borrowing from whomever will lend to us. We are behind on every social indicator. Blackouts abound. Our water supply is deficient. Health, education, transportation, infrastructure, flood control, crime control, traffic control are languishing. Our Government Ministries operate with no sense of customer service, using backward colonial era rules and practices with poor technology. Every-thing needs fixing in Guyana. This requires lots of money to fix everything and to restructure our compensations systems, doubling NIS and Old Age Pen-sions, providing living wages to our working poor and elevating all our people above the poverty level. To me, this is a state of emergency too. This is as bad as Venezuela trying to steal our land.
The oil companies are in effect stealing our national patrimony, acting as bullies (similar to Venezuela), and threaten our long-term survival as they take 85.5% of all oil income and Guyana gets only 14.5%. So why can’t the PPP and PNC unite to get a better oil deal for all Guyana? While they fight each other, the enemy ships out megabillions of profits from our poor country. Can the big two parties explain to the nation why they cannot be on the side of the people when it comes to oil? They also have to explain why they secretly told Exxon during the election that they will not renegotiate the oil contracts. So, in the Venezuela situation we are against imperialism. But in the oil situation, the major parties are united on the side of the oil imperialists.
I ask the nation and the PPP and PNC, going forward, can we remain One Guyana in all things? Rodney King asks, “Can’t we all get along?” Gandhi said, “You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist.” Our politics has always been a poisoned chalice, but the same nationalism we are showing against Venezuela’s greed, is needed in the matter of oil renegotiation and Exxon’s greed. Will our leaders rise to this challenge, or will we continue to betray the nation? I say unite for Guyana. Unite for the working class that Jagan and Burnham fought for. Now is the time for that National Patriotic Front when it comes to oil renegotiation. If we do, all Guyana wins!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall
