Guyana will undergo massive development when the oil starts flowing and New York-based Guyanese would like to see free university education as a priority so that more young people would be qualified and remain there.
They would also like to see overall improvements in the education sector, which includes increased salaries for teachers, so that it can be on par with other countries.
They said that when the oil starts flowing, more industries would be established. This would help to create jobs and avoid a “brain drain.”
They migrated to the US to have better lives but they told Stabroek News (SN) it is their biggest desire to return home.
Guyana stands to earn billions of dollars in revenues and they called on the government to spend it wisely so the country can move up from “third world status.”
In 2016, Guyana and ExxonMobil signed a revised Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), which was made public in 2017.
The terms of the PSA state that 75 percent of oil production will initially be allocated to ExxonMobil and its partners to “recover costs”.
Guyana would be receiving half of the remaining 25 percent as profit. Also included in the contract is a 2 percent royalty on gross production.
The NY-based residents are excited about the new-found wealth that would be taking Guyana by storm. They would like it to be spent on other developments including more roads, adequate housing, bridging the Essequibo River and establishing more industries.
But for Guyanese to benefit from “what is about to happen, because it is big what is about to happen, they have to develop a better attitude towards themselves…” and have more respect for their jobs, said Norris Chester.
He told Stabroek News in a recent interview that it is very important for the young people to take their education and life seriously and “stop looking at America as rescue because the development is in their hands. There is a good future to come with oil.”
Chester, who was “born and raised in Bartica,” left for the US in 1982 at the age of 16. He returns often for vacations and is happy with the development he has seen “over the years.”
He pointed out that, “Bartica is the gateway to the interior and I would love to see more roads built so that there could be more development in the interior.”
He would also “love to see all six races coming together in peace and harmony to better Guyana.”
He also said the government needs to build a second highway linking the Cheddi Jagan International Airport to the East Coast Highway to ease the traffic congestion.
“With infrastructure comes buildings and complexes but I would like to see better irrigation as well as better garbage systems with recycling facilities,” he said.
Population will grow
A former military officer, George Phillips told SN that he thinks Guyana is ready for the oil boom and that a lot of people are looking to go home back home. “The population will grow so we need more roads. We would have more vehicles and the roads now would not be adequate to accommodate them,” he said.
And while they are at it, they should invest in “bridging the Essequibo Coast with the Demerara coast so as to have easily accessible path to these places.”
He noted that the bridge would be a big boost for improvement and would result in “more people moving there to live and to do farming.”
Phillips said too: “The world is talking about renewable fuel and we have a lot of wood, so some of the oil wealth can be used to establish a coal industry.”
This, he said, can used be as an avenue to create lots of jobs.
He stressed that for progress to take place, “the government of the day must be honest and have proper management. Nobody needs to covet or steal the monies.”
He foresees a high level of development taking place in Guyana and he plans to move back with his wife in another two years.
“I want to go back home. I spent all my youthful years in Guyana. I was in the military for 24 years. Just after my retirement a friend brought me to New York.”
Since then he had plans to return and had refused offers he got to sell his house in Guyana.
“…When you come from the tropics, you need to get out (of the cold) when you attain a certain age. I think all Guyanese should hold on to their properties,” he said.
Another NY-based Guyanese, Charwyn Thom told this newspaper that he “would like to see a whole lot of development but the main one is to have free education from nursery to university. I only hope the government can put some of the money in that direction.”
Overall, he would like to see Guyana “move away from a third world status to a higher status.”
He hopes that from the oil wealth there would be adequate and affordable housing for the ordinary folks.
He said too: “I personally would like to go back home, not only to enjoy the oil wealth but the freedom and good fresh air and everything.”
Increased salary for teachers
Jermaine ‘Jay’ Chester told SN she too would like to see “better education for the young people and increased salaries for the teachers. If they pay the teachers better they would be motivated to deliver a better service,” she said.
She hopes that the youths would have well-paid jobs so that they would not engage in robberies.
She also said better security systems need to be put in place because “too many young people are in involved in crime in Guyana. I follow the news back home. These young people sticking you up on the streets and going into homes and robbing you. Some people beg them not to kill them and they still do.”
She also called on the government to “look into the needs of all Guyanese and it should not be a race thing because we are one.”
According to her, “When it comes to the oil, a lot of people would want to go to Guyana. …You can’t able with this cold all the time. There is no place like home. Guyana is such a beautiful place.
I am patriotic, I love my country but just because of opportunities I came to NY.”
Chester pointed out too that: “Right now everybody is crying out that Guyana getting hard, the cost of living getting high and they’re not getting money. People barely making minimum wages and have to pay bills, rent and they have to eat. So government needs to step up a bit. But I know that things are going to get better in Guyana.”
Barbara Phillips, a teacher told this newspaper that she “would just like to see the Guyanese people living comfortable and not from pay cheque to pay cheque.
They must be able to support themselves and not have to depend on people from developed countries to help them.”
She too calls on the government to put proper security systems in place so that people don’t have to be fearful of bandits coming in and kill them.
She was saddened that one of her close relatives who was recently murdered in Ann’s Grove.
She also encouraged the youths to be employed so they won’t have to commit robberies and commit crimes.
She too is excited about the transformation that would take place in Guyana and said: “There should not be any brain drain. People should stay right there and develop the country.”
