Dear Editor,
They say never say never. Those who do usually end up having to hang their heads in dismay. A Guyanese as illustrious as Excellency Sam Hinds, national award(s) recipient, former political bwana and rajah, would never think of saying something so memorable, so inexcusable. But he did think and, worse, he did say in public. If we have troubles absorbing the US$4.4 billion according to some reports, what more troubles we would have had in absorbing US$10 billion! Sometimes there could be too much of a good thing,”
The former president and former prime minister may be given the narrowest of passes. He studied in the United Kingdom, so some of Sir Winston Churchill could have rubbed off on him in a bad way. A way that degrades his fellows. Not the ones at Oxford, but those from Guyana and in Guyana. Closing in on a hundred years ago, it was Sir Winston who said that the Indians were not capable of governing themselves, fought with fire in his eye and a few tricks up his old imperialist hide against the granting of Independence to India. Now, along comes, Sir Samuel of Washington on the Potomac by way of McKenzie on the Demerara to take a position that is not altogether dissimilar. Check it out, folks. If Guyanese have so much difficulty managing US$4.4 billion, then heavens to Betsy, what troubles could be in store for the people of this country, from president to pauper, to deal diligently and maturely with US$10 big ones. The Indians of Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel could not be trusted to handle freedom, according to Churchill. And the Guyana of such financial majesties as Drs. Irfaan Ali and Bharrat Jagdeo (along with Dr. Ashni K. Singh, of course) may not be up to the task that the challenge of US$10 battleship-sized banknotes brings should it be Guyana’s fair fortune to fight for and receive for its oil.
Some tears threaten to trickle. They have nothing to do with the, perhaps, unintended insult. The tears stir that a man of the caliber of Mr. Samuel Hinds could think so little of his own. Crestfallen is not the word; try falling of a cliff and that would be closer to the present reality. It is on grim occasions like these that some old, trusted jewels are dug up and trotted out. Two of such nuggets, in fact. The first was that one from a white, female Union Carbide shareholder’s perverse but poignant reaction when the stricken Indians in the subcontinent town of Bhopal were pressing for more money, fair recompense, following the catastrophic chemical spill. ‘What would they do with more money?’ Mean-ing that they may go crazy with ecstasy and destroy themselves. Something inside sees a parallel between that grand dame of Union Carbide and Guyana’s own dear son, Excellency Hinds. What world of trouble would Guyanese call upon themselves should US$10 billion fall into their hands? It is another expression of, a different one, the forms that the oil curse takes. Referring to the Union Carbide lady (no sinking to “that woman” a la Slick Willie Clinton), the better question is this one: how much was an Indian life worth? Without pointing an accusing or hostile finger at the brother cum avuncular Sam Hinds, the question will not recede into the ether: how much is a fair share for this grand national oil patrimony? The second gem was the one that circulated during the fight for the abolition of slavery in America: the chattels are happy, what would they do with liberty, considering the free food, housing, and clothing they are all getting? Not to forget Christianity and civility. In some respects, is that not what the honorable Sam Hinds said (feel good) in different words?
Further, the argument could be made that Guyana’s Sam Hinds (using his own words) is of the same mind as Exxon’s Viceroy, Earl Alistair Routledge: US$2 billion is the best maximum for Guyanese should there be an oil spill out there. The Exxon Texans looked at poor, mentally impoverished, guts deficient, Guyanese and concluded that US$2 billion is all that they would need, could ever deal with sensibly. There is a word for such postures, insurance/company guarantee obscenities: racist. This is how Guyanese are cheapened. What did Mr. Sam Hinds do when he uttered those savaging words, if not cheapened every Guyanese from intelligentsia to imbecile, from luminaries to lowlifes (apologies, losers).
Sincerely,
GHK Lall