This soap opera called Guyana cannot continue to rotate forever-unconcerned

Dear Editor,

Today, I am ready to review 2018 and review 2019. Things are that predictable and unchangeable here.

The biggest thing on everyone’s minds and lips is: elections. Any dunce could have guessed that one. For me, that is already yesterday’s news. Dramatic and filled with intrigue, it was; but nothing suspenseful. The rowdy street was overflowing with inside news, sources, knowing whispers, and that whole tired kit and kin. Speaking of that, I find instructive as to usage of political code words in this society. Things have gone from the old “ungovernable” to the current “instability.” In terms of the former frantic appeals went out to the UN, the AsiaPacific bloc, the Mongols, Byzantines, and the rest of the civilized world. On the other hand, the latter term of art from just last week did not even raise an eyebrow. But I stray: elections, remember? One group continues, the other comes through the side door; be it in 3 months, the 3rd quarter, or 366 and more. Talking heads, suits, and, from the solidarity pantheon can fiddle, frown, and fulminate, but this thing will come to pass at the appointed time. That’s it.

The second issue is pregnant with trouble. Oil, of course, what else! I begged the Guyanese cognoscenti to hold off on the counting and screaming. Nobody listened. Suddenly, those hidalgos on the far side have discovered the wherewithal to emerge from their twilight zone with unity, navy, and newfound bellicosity with their own version of not one blade of grass. It is: not one drop of oil. This one has to be finessed, but

for once I am delighted that that volatile fellow is in the White House. This is where the insurance premium paid in advance through that low rent percentage, PSA, and the rest will have to kick in with a covering umbrella. Think armada. For if Exxon were to retreat lamely and tamely (an unlikely event), then it might as well be all mud below that seabed in those fields. Stated differently, the oil will be meaningless to Guyana. A stand will have to be taken here and all those fashionable terminologies about geopolitics, petropolitics and hemispheric politics are going to have to signify something tangible. It will get a tad untidy, involve some brinkmanship, and more tough talk from 1600 Pennsylvania and Foggy Bottom to accomplish the task at hand. I predict that Guyana will overcome.

Next, I traverse the well-traveled: this country has a lot of problems and challenges: a few very old ones are pervasive racism, tax evasion and collection, and decayed institutions and public services. This place is too tiny to absorb these thorny issues. Many of the literati have talked a mile on some of these, but none has had the guts, character, or will to roll up sleeves, acquire mud on shoes, and hammer out reasonable compromises. It is neither macho nor sexy nor marketable; it does not pay to boot. Nobody seeks to touch those slumbering pit bulls. Nevertheless, this soap opera called Guyana cannot continue to rotate foreverunconcerned, unperplexed, and unable-on the axis to which it remains immovably attached. In keeping with my commitment above, at the end of this year, all of these areas will be at the same, if not worse levels.

Then, I noted City Hall thanking those citizens who have honoured their past due obligations. That’s nice, people, but what about those who have consistently met obligations due in the future? What about them? Seriously, City Hall is too riddled with old mentalities, old-style operations, old relationships, old loyalties, and old standards. It is gerontocratic in body and philosophy. I know it is a dirty word, but the place has to be purged, and purged outright. Start with a fresh slate. Otherwise, I envision the same old results with a cosmetic bump here and there. Get real folks.

Here is a sensitive one: the security forces will have to earn their money this year. I predict, at the risk of understatement, a demanding year for its agents. They will rise only if the line thickens and stands. These bodies will be questioned, challenged, analyzed, criticized, empowered, second-guessed, and still expected to perform according to the whims of either the troubled or agitated or besieged. In this reside the seeds of the mushroom cloud; matters are at a sensitive juncture, with many ideas and projections percolating. I leave it at this for now.

On a personal note, I have noticed that, in this society, there are three kinds of people: those who write about things happening; those who speak of what is happening; and those (very few) who do something about what is happening. Given these embedded realities, it would be terribly bad form on my part to point out and remind some deserving men of how limited they are. I leave that to the more pagan in the mix. It is sufficient to say, though, that the frames through which these same authorities peer are clouded and narrow. Seeing beyond the nose and the obvious is too challenging, if not frightening. It is a world best left alone. I have every intention of doing so in 2019. I predict improvement here.

Now one for the road: there is the usual perennial talk of reform: judicial reform, prison reform, public service reform, campaign financing reform and the granddaddy of them all, constitutional reform. Clearly that vote has relegated these primary and pivotal matters to the backburner. Sorry, nothing doing; later maybe. They suffer in the light of recent developments. A word of caution: I am always amused (perhaps, I should be impressed) that those who clamour the loudest and longest for reform are the same people chewing on filet mignon lubricated with expensive wines from a good year while absorbing the powerful sounds from a Mahler opus. Reminiscent of the last haunting stirrings prior to the enveloping darkness. Wishes for a healthy and secure 2019 to all.

Yours faithfully,

GHK Lall