Dear Editor,
It may have come to your attention that I was elected treasurer of the PNCR at our recently concluded party congress. I want to thank those who supported me and say that I am flattered that more than 90% of those who voted picked me for their treasurer. Of course, as is typical after attaining any opposition position, the PPP has begun pathetic, propagandistic attacks. Permit me to first of all set the record straight, but second of all, to help the Guyanese people understand the benefits my experience brings to Guyana.
This latest attack focuses on my time at Goldman Sachs and Co, where they claim I was only an intern. This is not true, as I both interned and worked there for years. Goldman Sachs is a “flat” organization, which means that there are no strict work hierarchies. As a result, even workers who have been there a short time are vested with great responsibility. Before I quit to come back and serve my country, I typically worked with about $10 billion USD a day, for 12 hours a day. How is Goldman able to accomplish this? They trust employees across the firm with billions of dollars of responsibility because the selection process for employees is notoriously rigorous. In fact, it is far more difficult to get a job at Goldman Sachs than it is to get into Harvard.
This elite environment, which also features extensive training (I typically worked late a few times a week to train), also allows workers to attain business, public policy and economic skills. As a result, Goldman Sachs has been nicknamed Government Sachs, with a long list of former employees serving in public office. Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is the most recent example. To attack my competence, then, on the basis of having worked there, is totally ridiculous.
On the other hand, they also have attempted to attack my education. While Queen’s College Head Prefect, I had applied to study economics and political science at Amherst College, which is a small school similar to Harvard or Princeton. As an example, Amherst is number 9 on the list of Nobel Prize winners per student and when I attended it was ranked above Harvard, Stanford and MIT by Forbes. Just as I did at Goldman Sachs, I took extra classes to maximize my learning.
Locally, while at the State Assets Recovery Agency, I also received a certificate in Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Corruption from the International Law Institute and spent several years researching the expected economic and political effects of the oil economy. To attack me for not having a satisfactory education, when my education was as high quality as available anywhere in the world, is once again beyond reason.
But why does the PPP feel it needs to attack me in this way? Sadly there is a culture of “bright-boyism” in Guyana, and many feel that as the quintessential QC boy, I am coming to replace Jagdeo as the next know-it-all. I want to reassure Guyanese that, rather than outshine Jagdeo (which is not exactly difficult) I want to move us beyond the traditional bright boy concept. Not only is it patriarchal and antiquated, we now have the requisite resources to hire expertise and capabilities that will ensure we do not have to rely on one bright boy to govern.
My experiences abroad have taught me that large amounts of money must be dealt with carefully, relying on such expertise, because small mistakes can have disastrous consequences. I’ve observed that the PPP has awarded a company only one year old rights to monetize Guyana’s natural gas, despite not enforcing the provision in the Stabroek PSA for a feasibility study for the monetization of that natural gas. Even more perilously, rather than call in a major international firm to help them evaluate the numerous bidders for this award, they relied on a Ministry of Natural Resources team.
Some estimates put the potential value of Guyana’s offshore natural gas at over $100 billion USD. Such a serious award, given the numbers involved, should have relied upon international expertise and a robust feasibility study. We, in the Opposition, call for an investigation of this award given the company’s lack of experience, the scale of what is required and the experience and size of the other bidders. What Guyana needs now is not so-called bright boys who imperil us all with their arrogance. Rather, we need level-headed, experienced, honest people who are not afraid to hire the requisite international expertise.
Sincerely,
Elson Low,
Economic and Youth Policy Advisor to the leader of
the Opposition,
Opposition Oil and Gas Spokesperson,
Treasurer of the PNCR
