Dear Editor,
It’s good to see Mr. Trotman emerging as he has been lying low since the attempted rigging of the 2020 election by the APNU+AFC. Trotman had two recent letters in the papers, one critiquing the Government’s “One Guyana” initiative. Shouldn’t Mr. Trotman be writing instead about how “One Percent Oil Royalty” became “Two Percent”? That’s what all Guyana wants to know, Mr. Trotman! Please tell us the “billions of US dollars” question, “Who told you to sign” the contract as it has been reported that you said you were “told to sign.”
Mr. Trotman, you were a nationalist leader of the AFC that changed Guyana’s politics in a historic way. The AFC proved that “third force” politics was a viable option in a polarized, divided polity. However, the collapse of the AFC, after it teamed up with the PNC, does not mean “third force politics” is now dead. It has been harmed by what the AFC did, but not killed. New people will emerge because we cannot afford to continue rotating between “the devil and the deep blue sea.” With all the wealth we have, Guyana must rise for the working poor! It’s “Our Wealth, Our Country.”
So Mr. Trotman, as someone who loves Guyana and its working poor, and whom could have become our President, please come clean to the nation – Who told you to sign the “stink and dutty,” rottenest, worst oil contract in the world? As an Attorney, does this make you proud or sad that you signed it, and essentially gave the oil companies a contract that is more like a “deed of gift” that conveys our national patrimony to the neocolonialists? Sir, the people of Guyana want to know:
1. Who told you to sign? Was it the President or the Chief of Staff? Or other person?
2. Did you read the document before you signed?
3. When you signed the rottenest oil contract in the world, did you sign of your own free will?
4. Who were the other attorneys, if any, that reviewed the contract before you signed?
5. What was the amount of time between when you received the document and when you signed the document?
6. Were any inducements or goodies provided to you that influenced your signing?
7. Did the Cabinet approve the contract before you signed, or did you sign on your own, based on the instruction of the person who told you to sign?
8. Did Ministry officials caution you that the contract was bad, and you ignored them?
9. At the time you signed, we knew oil was found. Why did you agree to the clause that Guyana should pay the oil companies’ taxes, a paltry profit share, and hefty payments to the oil companies for all their expenses?
10. Why did you agree to what is called the “Stability Clause” that subjugates the Parliament of Guyana to this business contract that says Parliament cannot make laws affecting this contract? The “stability clause” is stability for Exxon and friends but instability for our working poor.
11. As a leader of the AFC, was your signing in keeping with the AFC’s vision for Guyana?
12. Mr. Trotman, do you support the renegotiation of this oil contract?
13. In doing penance, and as a show of your repentance (if any), are you now willing to say to the nation you are sorry for signing away our wealth, and you will commit the rest of your life to joining with Glenn Lall to secure a better deal for Guyana?
14. Would you be willing to join and advise the Glenn Lall legal team to fight the case filed about Guyana paying the taxes of oil companies and their affiliates? Can you bring in some other “amicus” attorneys too?
15. If you signed the contract under duress, would you be willing to go to court and testify about it?
16. Would you advise the PPP Government to side with the oil companies to defend the “tax case” in court against Glenn Lall and the people of Guyana?
Mr. Trotman, as you have re-emerged, I implore you to clear your conscience and that stain on your character and work by joining the movement for the renegotiation of the oil contract. As our Pastors, Pandits and Imams would say, there is redemption, salvation and forgiveness, when we confess our sins. Can you come to the altar now, as I make this altar call? Mr. Trotman, please come clean with the nation on this oil contract, and give Guyana the full disclosures. After all, it’s “Our wealth, Our Country.” We want a better life for all, now!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall