Saturday, September 24, 2011

Rigs to Riches: a lesson for Guyana’s future?

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ambassador Sanders, let me quote you as follows: "What Guyana does with the revenues from oil (and gas) will be important to its short and medium-term social stability and its longer-term economic prospects." This precisely is the point, for as you correctly realise, a country's wealth and viability in the world is not so much about its income, but rather about how it uses that income. Your pieces have largely placed you in that unenviable cocoon of those who unconditionally support the extremely corrupt Guyanese government, where almost every single government project is a financial and physical disaster! What better example of corruption can one point to but the floating away into the ocean of a bridge, my God, a bridge!!! while it is in the middle of construction, or the ridiculous costings of certain houses built with government money? Ambassador you are fully aware of what I speak. It is for this reason that you should do the people of Guyana the immense favour of more seriously studying your own quotation above and writing a serious and honest article beseeching the Guyana government to end its extremely corrupt ways. They can start by liberating the communications sector, starting with the broadcast media. They can appoint a National Ombudsman, and confer upon that office the real power to function. Can you imagine a Caribbean country in 2011 where the State still holds absolute power in matters of broadcasting? Guyana's only radio station is State owned, and yet Guyana is a member of the United Nations and also of Caricom! As you know very well Ambassador, all the oil resources discovered in Guyana will come to nought, if folks like you do not begin to encourage and practically force Guyana's political leaders to embrace democracy in that country. The abominable levels of official corruption will destroy Guyana, oil reserves or not!!! You can begin my learned Ambassador, as a friend of the Guyana government, to put an end to your unconditional support for that government, with your first honest, serious, unbridled article, challenging your high-level political friends in that country to begin to embrace real democracy. The ball is in your court. ROBERT PERSAUD.

September 26, 2011 at 5:13 AM

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