Dear Editor,
There is so much more below the surface in the swirl of media items on Ramps Logistics, the Trinidadian-originated entity that is running into heavy weather with not one, but two State agencies in Guyana. On the one hand, I observe the Government of Guyana being adamant that this is how this Local Content business should work, this is where matters have run aground, and because of what and how differences unfolded, there is a problem. More than one, in fact. On the second hand, I have come to appreciate that Ramps, by the calculations of some, is getting what it had dished out, its comeuppance is overdue, and it couldn’t have happened to nicer folks. On the third hand (yes, this being Guyana, there is that too), there is what is being discerned as some of the usual politics of this nation that is at work. Currently, it is still hazy and being carefully kept out of the public eye, but its significance is telling.
By way of full disclosure, I don’t know anybody in Ramps, have no relationship in any way with the company. But it took a while, and then it came recently, and doesn’t speak too highly of Ramps’ own machinations not too long ago right here. There was a big hullabaloo, a lot of handwringing by Guyanese, when Ramps was brought here from T&T, and foisted, on some Guyanese businesses that were part of oil exploration and other support action for years. Compliments of mighty Exxon, it was Ramps, the new kid in town, getting and holding onto the hog of the work that was previously done by locals. That did not go over well at all, but Exxon is Exxon, and no Guyanese company was going to push too hard, too vociferously, or too publicly against what was a done deal. To do so was to risk being quietly and unofficially blacklisted and blackballed by Exxon. Nobody wants to be in that boat. If the great PPP Government of Guyana doesn’t care to tangle with superpower Exxon, then local commercial captains got the message in quick order, stood down, and retreated to lick their wounds. In that instance, score one for Ramps.
Editor, as I measure matters at this moment, Ramps stands in the way of some movers and shakers in this country. They are PPP Government people, and no ordinary riffraff, some dregs of the lumpen proletariat, but what we call big people locally. Ramps business is being eyed, and already from the smart set I gather that a local replacement is waiting in the wings, and that it reaches far and deep into the government. It is one thing for Ramps to have used (or been the beneficiary of) Exxon to clear the way here for its arrival and ascension. However, it is altogether a different kettle of worms for Ramps to collide with the interests of powerful locals, who are also not known to be squeamish where certain body blows are concerned. This is all adding up when I notice that the GRA has powered its way into the fray, and the Local Content (LC) honchos have come out of the woodwork to lay down the law, both letter and spirit, to Ramps. The GRA is on good grounds, as it has been there before with Ramps; and the LC headmen have a golden opportunity to demonstrate that they are for delivering the goodies to Guyanese. From my distant ringside seat, it seems that this is a full-fledged flurry of well-aimed blows directed at Ramps. The court will have the final say in time. But this time is increasingly not looking like it is the time of Ramps. Move over Ramps. Get ready Guyanese, the specifics of who and how will come to light soon enough. The why is not necessarily anybody’s business, especially uncaring locals.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
