Dear Editor,
President Ali had a very busy second day in the UK. Meeting the Prime Minister – the party loving Boris Johnson, meeting yet more putative investors at the House of Lords in the evening and much more. With him to Ten Downing street went the British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller but, alas, no resident Guyana High Commissioner to the UK. Rajendra Singh is yet to arrive here from his ‘arbitration business’ in the USA. The fort in Bayswater road is being held by locums as it has been for over two years. The diaspora who can only look on to this mystery with interested eyes.
For those who had been to the Tuesday investment seminar, the President’s speech was a case of deja vu all over again. His Excellency really should carry a portfolio of speech variants with him rather than a rigid template. Free advice to H.E. from Bill- keep the speeches shorter and less facts. Leave that to a handout or to power-points. The audience at the terrace side in Parliament at dusk was still vastly majority male, stale and white. Some of the UK diaspora there too, including the director of this august organ! How many of them had spare change in their pockets to invest in Guyanese aquaculture remains to be seen. They feasted on canapes and the very best of three year old El Dorado rum. Nearly Guyana’s finest.
Today, the hunt for the missing High Commissioner moves on a new venue in Westminster – The Royal Horse guards Hotel where the diaspora should be out in force. Hopefully with a longer vintage rum! Your correspondent sleuth will keep you posted. Watch this space.
Sincerely,
John ‘Bill Cotton/Reform’ Mair
