… and throwing out BaiShanLin
It’s becoming clearer every day that this government and its representatives don’t have the foggiest notion about what it takes to develop the economy in a practical and realistic manner. Some of them may’ve read a few books or had a few plans thrown at them by some foreigners…but when it comes to the nitty gritty, they’re lost out in the deep seas.
Take their take on BaiShanLin and its operations in Guyana. Sure the company came in, promising the moon and the stars and hasn’t delivered them as yet. But what’s so strange about that when it comes to how business is done in a free market economy? In the first incarnation, the PNC nationalised the economy and ran it into the ground…but didn’t they learn from that what NOT to do?
Didn’t they learn from that the cardinal rule for the business owner is “Buy low and sell high?” And that the cardinal rule for customers is “Buyers Beware!” That this rule is more familiar in its Latin formulation – “Caveat Emptor” – should let you dear readers know how long ago folks figured out the orientation of the businessman. But obviously, this government had its head buried in books or some more unsavoury place. Haven’t all of us heard about the “robber barons” who built America to what it was in the 19th Century? Think Vanderbilt and Rockefeller. Today, they define “high society in the US”, but they didn’t become filthy rich through giving away charity. That came much later!
In the case of BaiShanLin…it’s a Chinese company operating in forestry. Why didn’t the Government institute rules and ensure they were followed? We’ll tell you why…because there are a dozen other countries that understand there will have to be some egg shells broken before the omelette of growth and development is ready. Didn’t we all hear about the hardships of South Koreans while they were building their industrial empire? Right now, aren’t we bombarded daily by the tales of “slavery” at Foxconn that makes the iPhones in China?
But interestingly, after the experience in other countries, the Chinese Government developed a comprehensive set of rules that foreign Governments can apply to Chinese companies in the forestry sector. All our government had to do was insist these rules were followed. And then see the investors walk away.
There’s a lot of loose talk about “giving away” the country – but only when it comes to Chinese and Indian companies. Somehow companies from the States and Europe get a free pass.
Is ExxonMobil really gonna “do the right thing”?
…with the Private Sector warning
We also see the same “no-nothing” attitude being applied against the local business community by the Government in general – and the AG in particular recently. All the Private Sector said was the SARU Bill the Government’s pushing represents a clear and present danger for business and the economy. But they weren’t just “throwing shade”. They spelt out what they meant, chapter and verse.
The PSC pointed out the Government doesn’t know what its assets are or were – so how the heck can they find what they don’t know about. The Bill consequently gives SARU the right to go off on fishing expeditions to harass anyone they want to – without any evidence. The other problem is that the laws will be ex-post facto…which goes against all that the rule of law stands for. Lastly, the Bill gives the Director of SARU more powers than all the law enforcement heads COMBINED!!
Does this government even have a glimmer of what this will do to anyone thinking of investing here?
…Sooba
There’s the old saying – “Be careful you get what you wish for”. For years, vendors around Georgetown were mobilised by King to harass Sooba.
Now that King is in and Sooba is out…what say they now?
