…the oil hole
It is noteworthy that this Government — chock-full of petroleum experts, according to Trotman — hasn’t commented much on the original exploration contract signed by Janet Jagan and Exxon back in 1999.
Recently, civil society activist Chris Ram — NOT an executive member of the WPA! — pointed out that Janet had handed out 600 blocks, ten times that 60 permitted by Desmond Hoyte’s Petroleum Act of 1986.
Janet’s successor to the presidency — the present PPP and Opposition Leader, Bharat Jagdeo — couldn’t pronounce definitively on the reasons for the former’s decision. He suggested “geopolitical considerations” and “no prior oil strikes” could’ve been factors. The “geopolitical considerations”, of course, had to be the ridiculous controversy Venezuela had precipitated on our Essequibo borders.
With Exxon drilling off the Essequibo shores, this would certainly have given pause to Hugo Chavez, who’d convened a “Constituent Assembly” in 1999 and was busy rewriting the Venezuelan Constitution. He wasn’t, of course, reviewing Article 8, which entrenched Venezuela’s spurious claim to our Essequibo.
Folks also forget that drilling for oil had been ongoing for almost a century, but all there was to show for the efforts were a lot of “dry holes”. So the Opposition Leader’s points are most plausible, but not exhaustive.
In 1999, the PNC under Hoyte were in the second year of violent protests in the streets against a Janet Jagan presidency. They didn’t just reject the results of the 1997 elections. After the “forensic audit” showed conclusively that the elections weren’t rigged as they’d claimed, the PNC and their supporters came out against Janet PERSONALLY.
In a most racist series of attacks, they reviled as a “white woman” a person who’d emigrated to Guyana since 1943, and had devoted her entire life — for the fifty-six years up to 1999 — to struggle on behalf of the Guyanese people. They didn’t see the irony of attacking a person of Jewish heritage as “white”, when she’d left the US when Jews were still classified as “kikes” – the equivalent of the “N” word for blacks.
But, to your Eyewitness, the most plausible reason for Janet’s generosity to Exxon — the epitome of the capitalist class reviled by her all her life — was the FORM of the PNC’s attacks against her. They created “Janet dolls” and, for weeks on end, in the full view of the public and the media, they stuck pins into the dolls while sprinkling potent liquids and chanting powerful incantations as they “wuk pon she”.
Janet, of course, stepped down from the Presidency because of the “illness precipitated” by the protests.
But it’s clear the “wuk” also affected her judgement to seal the Exxon deal!! Blame the PNC!!
…the (ticket) bag
Once again, the poor Guyanese traveller’s left stranded on the ground with his expensive tickets bought with his hard-earned cash clutched in his sweaty hands, as another airline goes belly up. This nonsense has really been going on for too long, and it’s high time the Government steps in to save its citizens money — if not their honour.
After all, we’re now down to Caribbean Airlines, and the Trinis show no inclination to stop treating us Guyanese like we’re in cattle class when in the air, and like hogs when in transit on way to the States. And with the US continuing to demonstrate their remarkable show of faith in our willingness to return to our native land, there will certainly be no let up on bodies heading north.
So your Eyewitness doesn’t believe rumours that Government has scaled back the airport from 8 boarding gates to 1.
‘Cause if we don’t become a hub for South America, how will we hitch rides?
…the containers
Your Eyewitness knows the economy’s tanking under this Government. But we have to draw the line SOMEWHERE as an international charity case, don’t we?
Did you see those used containers the Canadians presented to Ramjattan as an “evidence room”? Cheezy isn’t the word!!
