Dear Editor,
Suddenly, Guyana is no longer the pariah it was in respect to the treatment meted out to many Guyanese on their arrival in Barbados. Many Guyanese will know of the bench at the Grantley Adams airport reserved for Guyanese arrivals and sometimes their quick “departures” back to Guyana.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s suggestion that a regional renewable energy fund be created to aid the change-over from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is laudable. Her remarks were aimed at Guyana and new energy exporters in the Caribbean region. However, charity begins at home. Mottley is providing well for her people. President Irfaan Ali needs to do the same for his. I was hoping that she would have seen this International Energy Conference and Exposition Guyana as a golden opportunity to publicly confront ExxonMobil on their self- interest and ask them to re-negotiate the harsh oil contract made with the Guyanese government. That company is now firmly entrenched in Guyana and reaping tremendous profits so they would most likely endure a great deal of criticism without wanting to close doors on their operations here. Hopefully, they will become more generous, and just under pressure from those who proclaim to represent the pillars of justice. Mottley could have used this occasion to suggest that the government give Guyanese free education, free health care, free recreational and cultural clubs and facilities for youth and make a substantial contribution to funeral expenses as is done in some oil- rich countries. She could even have suggested that based on the quantity and quality of our oil and our small population, that our government could make a generous payment annually to each citizen. Other governments are using their revenues and resources to uplift the standards of living of their citizens.
Prime Minister Mottley should be commended for her efforts in her competent leadership of Barbados and supported as a female leader. Her government is distributing durable garbage bins with covers and another for recyclables, free of charge to each citizen, among their many efforts for a clean and progressive society. Our government should surely take a leaf out of their book and do everything possible to have a cleaner and healthier city, if not country. A capital is supposed to display the best that a country has to offer. All the glitz, glamour and modernity being pursued now that we have huge oil reserves, becomes insignificant with a dirty and unhealthy city. Something needs to be done about heaping blame on the Mayor and the City Council or something has to be done about them. How long are we going to continue in this embarrassing and depressing squalor? Is our government recycling and ensuring that our waste is categorized for disposal and the maintenance of good health? Segregating waste reduces the amount that reaches landfills thereby utilizing less space. When hazardous waste is separated and treated separately, there is less pollution of air and water. Distributing waste into separate bins ensures that it will be properly dealt with. There are other ways to combat climate change, besides seeking carbon credits for the preservation of our forest. Distributing land, of which we have plenty, could be seen as a facade for the enhancement of people’s lives. Citizens still have to pay for those lands and the houses erected thereupon by the government. The Covid grant, which was intended to be for each citizen, regardless of the person’s circumstances, was not paid to many, including me. Whether it was needed or not is irrelevant when justice and accountability should be at the forefront of governments’ policies.
The Guyanese government cannot be lulled into a sense of accomplishment and remain in a comfort zone because of the oil discoveries. We are suddenly attracting individuals and organizations from all over the globe, and many are jostling for a piece of the pie, but we must separate the wheat from the chaff. Knowing that corruption prevails in oil- rich countries, the International Labour Organization through our local Unions and other organizations with clout, should be exerting pressure or diplomacy on the governments of these countries to pay a living wage to their citizens and improve their standard of living. We need to be hearing more support for the re-negotiation of the egregious oil contract. Immanuel Kant, the outstanding German philosopher, carved the distinction between duty and inclination. According to him, duty consists of what we should do while inclination consists of what we want to do. Duty makes someone act according to rules considered to be right and universally adopted. Exxon acted out of inclination. It is imperative that duty wins.
Sincerely,
Conrad Barrow