Importance of ‘substance’ has eluded Granger’s entire period in office

Dear Editor,
First oil is upon us and Guyanese should be rejoicing unreservedly; however, despite having had four years and seven months to prepare for this day, the Granger Administration’s dereliction of duty has resulted in us greeting first oil with our pants around our ankles. Guyana is in a state of chaos. Due to direct actions of David Granger, we have lost our parliamentary democracy; many important agencies such as the Public Procurement Commission are expired; for the Petroleum sector we have no legally enacted Sovereign Wealth Fund and we have no Local Content Policy. What we do have is a “National Petroleum Day” which is indicative of how Mr Granger’s mind works.
Granger has always demonstrated a fixation with pomp, ceremony, and style. The importance of ‘substance’ has eluded his entire period in Office. We began with the Golden Jubilee and have endured his tedious medal ceremonies, capricious renaming of buildings and institutions, the sixteen-car entourages and the ‘good life’ speeches ad nauseam. What we have not seen is the work ethic that makes things like ‘first oil’ possible. Many will recall that when the discovery of oil was first made public, APNU MP, Ronald Bulkan was protesting the opening of the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown and he said of oil discovery by ExxonMobil “It is part of a pattern of deception, born of desperation. It is a quantum leap when the company is talking of hydrocarbon and the PPP is announcing oil”. The same APNU/AFC members spend oodles of time in the Marriott. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, staff parties, engagements, birthdays and marriages occur within the walls of the hotel they once promised to turn into a hospital. David Granger and APNU/AFC have always been ill-informed, visionless and unable to translate promises into reality. There is no difference in the current APNU/AFC disbelief in the PPP promise to deliver fifty-thousand jobs and the old APNU/AFC disbelief in the discovery of oil. People who do not understand that you have to toil tirelessly to accomplish anything of substance can only pose for cameras and cut ribbons on the backs of the hard work of those who do.
APNU/AFC has swallowed their pride and accepted the Marriott was a visionary project, and now they are seeking to claim credit for an oil exploration contract signed by Janet Jagan in 1999 via a proclamation. While it is not unusual for APNU/AFC Ministers to hustle credit for the work of others (Noel Holder unashamedly flew to Italy within weeks of assuming office to receive an award for excellence won by his predecessor) Granger should be ashamed to even make a public appearance on this third Friday in December, for his actions since the historic No-Confidence Motion passed this day one year back will forever guarantee his name lives in infamy. The ill-advised attempt to sell three-million barrels of oil before the first gallon reached the surface was also exposed to the public this week adding to his shame.
Guyanese will rejoice the flow of oil as we rejoiced in the emphatic Yes! Yes! Yes! Of Charrandas Persaud, but we are tempered in our celebrations as we know that there still remains the struggle to return Guyana to a state of parliamentary democracy via free and fair elections. Raise a glass to our dear land, enjoy all of the season’s cheer and blessings, and be secure in the knowledge that while you celebrate, we who care are unrelenting in our struggle on this road to Zion.

Respectfully,
Robin Singh