Leaders are compromised, citizens must fight-back

Nov 02, 2021 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Everyone knows by now how Guyanese are being robbed of their wealth, as the focus now is oil. Every week there is a major business signed between the government and a foreign entity, never between the government and Guyanese, no one knows what is being signed for what, and what the ordinary people gets out of it.
All over Guyana, large Chinese shopping malls are being opened, building bigger than the Guyanese owned, with easy access to shipping and capital they will undercut the locals and get whatever Guyanese are supposed to get from the oil. The poor has already gotten hit, the rich and those who think you’re comfortable, your turn is next. Under the current contract with Exxon, Exxon extract oil, pay no taxes or duties, pay no attention to safety and environmental laws and the oil money is not even banked locally. It is banked in a U.S. Bank when senior and middle managers make eight and seven figure salaries in U.S. dollars. How much does our Bank of Guyana employees make? As per the contract our local people do not know anything about banking.
The real Math and cost to Guyana on this current deal is as follows: after refining, a barrel of oil generates close to US$300 in value, with all kinds of fuels from oil refining, gasoline, diesel, benzene for aircraft among others, as well 90 percent of daily products used by mankind is a byproduct of oil, from toys to computers, phones, lubricants, cosmetics, road construction, etc., and demand and price will only increase for these products, adding the loss of Guyana’s fishing and other local industries, Guyana is losing about US$200 per barrel of oil extracted per net value. The environmental value has no monetary cost as it is the death of Guyana as we know it.
It is a scientific fact that people living close to oil production and refining plants have cancer and respiratory illness seen nowhere else in the country, and no folks, this is not from the Third World, this is data from the USA and Canada of what is happening in the first world countries, imagine what happens in Third World countries, that’s why Exxon dodges the concerns of the likes of Melinda Jankie, Janet Bulkan and other environmentally smart people. The heat from the flaring is already being felt in the country, the fumes from producing oil over a couple decades will get to the air, as 90 percent of Guyanese live on the coastline, just like flaring the fumes will contaminate the sea breeze, which not only people, but livestock, animals and even trees and plants do breathe and will become contaminated. It is a blessing in disguise that fish is not being caught in the ocean, as the fish will be contaminated with toxic chemicals from the oil production and passed to people during consumption of the fish.
The high standard of safety and environmental protection required from Exxon, Guyana being a Third World country, will not get; all the banned dangerous chemicals that are not allowed in countries with strict laws gets used in countries with lax laws, Exxon don’t throw them away, the number one safety precaution for oil spills from offshore drilling is a standby rig, which Guyana will not get. A related story is with Union Carbide, a chemical producing company that has plants worldwide, the one in the strict countries have a computerised shutdown system that shut operations down automatically in case of a leak. In Bhopal, India they had one with a manual system, in case of leak workers had to use crescents and spanners to shut valves, there was a leak and over one hundred thousand people died, the response from the company was that Bhopal had a weak health system, not the fact that it did not equip the plant with a computerised system, expect the same rubbish spewing from Exxon should there be a disaster.
So why did our leaders sign this deal, was it stupidity, was it protection from Venezuela which is claiming Guyana’s offshore and Essequibo, or are they so deep in corruption they had no choice? Corruption between governments and multinational corporations works like a drug cartel, the deeper you are you can’t get out or there are dire consequences. When Saddam, Ghaddafi, Noriega and African leaders decided that the exploitation gets overbearing, they moved to take a stand although there were dealing with the exploiters originally. The Attorney General of the U.S. can charge anybody anywhere for corruption: Is this what our leaders are afraid of? Thus, the silence and do nothing to what Exxon is doing? If the exploiters gets 95 percent and our corrupt leaders should get five percent, then the blame should be assigned proportionately. How can Guyanese fight-back?
Our constitution dictates any deals with state assets and property has to be approved by parliament as representative for the people. Contracts not approved by parliament did not represent the people and can be challenged. People get a lawyer to file a case with a judge. Where are the lawyers, who during the elections bombarded us with laws, articles, statues, injunctions and other law jargon? Surely, they can file something challenging the validity of contracts not approved by parliament. The Leader of Ghana challenged the contracts for Ghana in a European Court. He lost the case, but achieved two things: he indemnified himself from the exploitation of his country and created an awareness of young Ghanaians, who are now fighting back worldwide via social media, and who now say, if the leader says the contracts are bad, then they are.
Guyanese entertainers and sportsmen and women and others with social media influence have to speak up. Concerned Guyanese should reach out to environmental activists and groups to Guyana’s Cause. Same reaching out should be made to indigenous activists and groups to the plight of indigenous people in Guyana, as resource industries are destroying their habitats. The leaders of Guyana will do nothing as they are already compromised. Guyanese have a mentality – do nothing and what has to happen will happen. Sorry people that attitude will not save you from this one and why be afraid of consequences, the current situation will only become a slow, painful death march to the slaughterhouse.

R. David

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