Dear Editor,
I am appalled at Moses Nagamootoo’s statements as reported by GINA. For a man who claims to be a politician he obviously is wearing some mask or is patently seeking to hoodwink a certain ethnic segment of the Guyanese population once again.
1. His reported comment regarding: “our country would have come out of the doldrums of backwardness of people suffering from wants and needs, if only we can tap into our natural resources, into our gas and oil resources, and we could utilise the vast wealth from that sector to benefit all of our people.” What a load of rubbish. Without the discovery of oil and gas prior to May 2015, has he bothered to look at the economic advancement of Guyana?
Where was he plying his trade for the last 23 years? Guyana was set on the road to greater prosperity and he must be honest enough to admit that since he took office, however diminished or underutilised he has been, that his Government has made not one policy statement or attempt to present a sound economic and feasible plan for the duration of this Government.
All the benefits this Government is enjoying are as a result of the methodical and systematic diligence of the PPP/C government 1992 to 2015.
2. Nagamootoo then goes on to say as reported: “National unity is not only a slogan, national unity is the soul of our country’s security, without it we are nothing and therefore all the negatives that we hear and political leaders, for whatever reason, come on, look at the need for our people to weld themselves together, to build national cohesion rather than try to sow the seed of distrust, the seed of division, the seed of ethnic hatred.” Is this man living in the real world? What has he done about Wales Estate? He invited a few affected workers to his plush office and offered them a soft drink and endless platitudes. Why has he not gone to visit those farmers and their families in Wales and the surrounding villages to discuss and get a grasp of the hardship those people will suffer after Wales Estate closes?
He tries to insinuate that political leaders are sowing seeds of distrust, division, and ethnic hatred. Has he forgotten what democracy, free speech and telling the truth about the reality of life in Guyana to those who live in other countries, but still contribute to the welfare of their relatives here in Guyana, really means?
Under this Government we are seeing a growing contraction in the economy. We all know that once again the oil market is in turmoil, with prices heading lower for the foreseeable future.
This country cannot plan an economic strategy around future expectations from oil and later gas, as there is no concrete guarantee that the oil exploration companies can have a guaranteed return on the capital they will need to employ in the production process.
As for this idle talk about Sovereign Wealth Fund, how can you possibly know what the basis of such a Fund will be when the basic structures to create such a Fund is non-existent.
It is time Nagamootoo forget about offering an olive branch to the PPP/C. Not in a million years will that work. He and his cohorts need to get a grip on reality and admit that their colossal pay hike was unjustified and start by reversing that squandering of resources, begin to listen to the Opposition and correct the wanton destruction of the economic bases of Guyana.
Until he can persuade his colleagues in Government that they are taking the country down to level which we left 15 years ago under the guidance of the PPP/C, then he should stop his irrelevant banter.
Regards,
Faoud Khan
