Make One Guyana the dominant factor in negotiating and dealing with oil

In Guyana, it is no secret that as a patriot I offered best wishes to President Irfaan Ali as he embarked on his journey as Head of State in August 2020.

When he posited a ‘One Guyana,’ many of us, myself included applauded, even earning the ire of friends and coalition partners.

Deep down, I am by nature an optimist and wedded to the concept ‘hope springs eternal in the human breast.’

As we begin a new year, the majority of Guyanese, in particular our youths, look forward to change, not in the weather but in the behaviour of those who are the leaders of industry and politics.

2021 closed on a sour note with Parliament purportedly passing the Natural Resource Fund Bill giving the perception that the Government led by President Ali has no great interest in doing the things necessary to make his clarion call of One Guyana a reality or at least creating an environment that can make One Guyana fructify and is not merely an empty and deceptive statement.

What bothers me is that our Leaders seem unable to learn lessons of the recent past. Simply put we need Government and Opposition working together and incorruptible.

We Guyanese absolutely can sit down and talk with the oil giants.

Our Leaders on all sides of the political divide must appreciate the need to avoid the majority of Guyanese becoming “hewers of wood and drawers of water.”

When we learn from old and new experiences, this year offers the Coalition and Government an opportunity to work together in the interest of Guyana.

If squandered, this and succeeding generations would curse us.

When our children and our children’s children look at the swamps which were once pristine forest, when they see our rivers, creeks and streams polluted where even reptiles dare not dwell. When they look at the gaping holes where gold and diamonds were extracted with neither care nor concern for the environment. When they note how depleted marine resources are. When they see nature’s natural protection in the form of mangroves being destroyed. When they see billions spent on ill-conceived projects. They will stamp on our graves.

When Public Servants and Trade Unions speak softly, knowing that the Sword of Damocles hangs over that community. When our Foreign Service would have lost the high regard and respect we had within the comity of Nations, tears would flow. When greedy men stack away billions and the workers still labour under the burden of an increasing cost of living. When attempts are made to use an already short-staffed Police and Constabulary and our Defence Force to be garbage collectors. This folly is a sad and sorry story.

It is my view that the previous administration made missteps, the present administration is doing much worse and Guyanese must speak up against this debauchery of our God-given gifts.

The money available from oil can by the end of this year take Guyana out of poverty and allow every citizen to enjoy a better quality of life.

Instead the money is drifting into the pockets of the chosen few who have been allocated oil blocks.

If the undertaking for transparency is genuine, the people in command should make public a list of all persons who have acquired oil blocks and how much revenue is being collected with an Addendum of what mechanism is employed in the selection process of the beneficiaries.

Let us follow the path of a previous Leader who dedicated the meagre resources we had to free education from kindergarten to University and an aggressive corruption-free programme to Feed, Clothe and House this nation and the establishment of a National Service which began a healing process while sharing our inherited cultural strands to produce an authentic One Guyana moving towards making a reality of our Motto - One People, One Nation, One Destiny.

This means that if our political leaders have a modicum of intelligence to interpret past and present events with oil, they must know that the only way, I repeat only way, our people can benefit from this oil bonanza is by setting aside their differences to make One Guyana, the dominant factor in negotiating and dealing with oil.

In spite of the above, on behalf of my wife and family, I wish all readers a happy and prosperous 2022.