Canje-Kaieteur Oil blocks and the Age Factor

Oct 28, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

Of all the factors that have contributed to the various elites contributing to the porous nature of the Canje/Kaieteur/Stabroek/Exxon/Paraya deals (Missing anything?); I’m yet to be convinced that the age factor of some decision makers signing off on these twisted oil deals; (or playing ignorant of what was happening, including not reading in full, documents before approvals) did not play some part in the entire poor decision making process.
The older we get the less effective we are in many areas, more so, where there are mountains of very complicated and detailed documents to read and review, before complex decisions are made. From Secretary of States in developing countries to CEO’s of large global entities, many of whom are way past the sixty-year’s mark, one common personnel fixture in their offices; are slews of young men and women behind the scenes at different expertise levels reviewing hundreds of pages of documents in painstaking detail to provide the most relevant information to the person on top. This support team also reminds the decision maker of various items that need follow-up.
Regardless of age, key decision makers in demanding executive positions always have staff behind the scenes doing the heavy work. (It’s not the Secretary). One-man/woman shows at executive levels = disastrous decisions. The higher up you are in the decision making chain, that requires a lot of mental gymnastics, the more imperative that the proper support staff is there.
We can’t overlook the fact that where these very complex oil deals are concerned, (which is different from dealing with less complicated sugar and rice transactions) some of the decision makers were way past their mental “prime”, though it appears the opportunistic natural resources ministers, and equivalent were a younger generation, and themselves contributed to the economic financial shortchange for Guyana.
This isn’t age discrimination. There are certain jobs a 70 year old can perform, five times better than a 30 year old. It’s about the realization that if certain personnel factors are not in place, there is a higher probability of important issues falling through the cracks and excuses being made. I am not saying this structure was not in place but…

Yours Truly,
Chi Kansi