Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 04, 2012 Editorial
It would seem that just about every former British colony, protectorate or overseas territory has a territorial issue. Belize is under threat from the Dominican Republic, Guyana has to contend with Venezuela and Suriname, The Falklands have Argentina and the list goes on.
Where there is no land issue there are maritime issues. The irony is that all these claims are rooted in the fact that the claimants are seeking the mineral resources that are supposed to abound in the disputed territory.
The Falklands have oil, and two years ago an exploration hit a location that not only has potential, but really has millions of gallons. Argentina had its eyes on the islands for precisely this reason and actually invaded in 1982. That they were expelled is now history, but the fallout still has the islanders struggling to establish not only cordial relations with the countries of South America, but also to continue a normal life.
For example, Argentina has a blockade of sorts which is more of nuisance value than of actually hurting the islands. The Argentines allow only one commercial flight to fly through its airspace each week. There is the threat that more than the single flight would be prevented at all cost.
Guyana suffered when Venezuela was at its most bellicose. Efforts to construct a hydroelectric facility in the Kumerau area in 1973 were successfully prevented. Venezuela protested to the international lending agencies and prevented any money coming for that project. The reality is that today, while there is still the claim, the Venezuelans are allowing the construction of another hydroelectric facility.
But this is coming at a tremendous cost to Guyana. What would have been built for pennies back in those days is now going to cost close to one billion American dollars. The construction phase is still a few months off and with each passing day the cost is expected to rise.
However, the delay effected by the Venezuelan protest nearly forty years ago is hurting the country. Guyana would not have been spending billions of dollars on fossil fuel to generate power. That money could have gone toward so many other things that the country needs. It could have gone toward education, thus negating the decline that is so evident today; it could have gone toward greatly enhancing the medical facilities countrywide.
There are lessons to be learnt from each territory under dispute. With immense British support, the Falklands have been able to amass so much money that it can afford free education right up to University, provided the students maintain excellent grades.
Children are sent to England, thousands of miles away, at no cost to their parents. The Falkland authorities pay all the costs, even boarding and lodging. Guyana at one time did the same, but the hard times evoked by the various world crises have put a stop to these scholarships.
The ordinary man may not realize that every delay can be extremely costly. With limited resources, Guyana pays its senior citizens a mere $10,000 per month. The government boasts of foreign reserves, but on inspection, a sizeable portion of those reserves goes toward purchasing fossil fuel to power the nation.
Prudent management in the Falklands has allowed that self-governing country to not only give the senior citizens a substantial sum, but also affords free medical attention, except for cosmetic surgery. Guyana does offer free medical services, but the quality can in no way be considered of the best. There are simply not enough medical personnel to provide the service.
In the Falklands, the authorities also looked at the natural resources and found that it could slash its energy bill by some sixty per cent, simply by establishing wind farms. Guyana invited some Dutch specialists to look at the possibility of wind farms and accepted the findings that there is simply not enough wind.
Surely, a country in the direct path of the north east trade winds could not lack for wind to power some wind farms. But then again, it is left to the national leaders to really explore situations induced when Venezuela successfully prevented the establishment of the hydroelectric facility forty years ago.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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