Dear Editor,
For those too young to have experienced colonialism, and who have lived in Guyana most of their lives and have no understanding of what the term ‘white privilege’ means, the BBC’s Hard Talk: On the Road, Guyana is a must watch for it paints a picture and reveals as much about the painters as their subject.
“We are in Guyana, a country of extraordinary ecosystems and vast resource potential, the question is, which comes first?” with this, Host Stephen Sackur sets off to investigate our country; to be blunt, this premise is a classic ‘straw man’, Guyana is not faced with a choice, we are producing oil hundreds of kilometres offshore and it has no impact on any ecosystem in Guyana. Sakur visits Smith’s Creek and makes a straight-faced statement, “It takes two hours of paddling by canoe to find drinkable water”, even a simpleton knows that no community in Guyana could survive if they had to go two hours by canoe for water; hint, the answer is in the name “CREEK”; it begs the question of Sakur’s motivation.
Sakur spoke to various people during this piece, and it is instructive to examine these interactions and their settings. Conservationist Annette Arjoon is interviewed on the remote, picturesque Shell Beach; Sakur interviewed President Ali in a well-appointed room (State House); Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton is spoken to in an area of Sophia with ramshackle houses (Sophia runs the gamut of development), and wealthy socialite/activist Vanda Radzik is hosted for a friendly chat (of equals) on the seawall. Sakur exploits each setting to illustrate his narrative fully.
The Conservationist was treated with kindness, and was asked about a possible oil spill and its effects on an area so remote that most Guyanese have never visited it. Arjoon understandably paints a gloomy picture for the area in the oil spill scenario (however unlikely). There were no technical questions, such as if the current flows would even take oil onto those shores, just a setup for Arjoon to put her face on the doomsday poster. Arjoon, for her part, inexplicably fails to mention benefits derived from Guyana’s groundbreaking Low Carbon Development Strategy, and the related Norwegian grants or the recent sale of Carbon Credits. The entire Hard Talk episode fails to mention Guyana’s LCDS and its leadership in environment and conservation thought and action.
President Ali made the Guyanese (and all former colonials) proud with his forceful defense of Guyana’s right to exploit and convert her resources into tangibles for her people. President Ali was informative, firm, and brooked no nonsense. When Sakur ventured, “According to experts, more than two billion tons of carbon will come from those sea beds and be released into the atmosphere”, Ali cut him short and replied, “Let me stop you right there! Do you know that Guyana has a forest, forever, the size of England and Scotland combined? A forest that stores 19.5 Gigatons of carbon? a forest that we have kept alive.”
Sakur then attempted to ask, “Does that give you the right…”
Ali interrupted forcefully again, “Does that give you the right to lecture us on climate change? I am going to lecture you on climate change, because we have kept this forest alive, a forest that stores 19.5 Gigatons of carbon, that you enjoy, that the world enjoys, that you don’t pay us for, that you don’t value, that you don’t see a value in, that the people of Guyana has kept alive…we have the lowest deforestation rate in the world, and even with greatest exploration of the oil and gas we have now, we will still be Net Zero. Guyana will still be Net Zero!”
That reply by Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali made the developing world stand and cheer. It was a seminal moment, where the centuries-old tradition of the British ‘talking down’ to colonials was shattered. Comparisons have been made to India’s Narendra Modi and are not without basis. Guyana and the world have a new Champion, and we are bursting with pride. It’s the dawning of a new day, one where the sun has long set on the British Empire; or, as we say locally, “Dis time nah lang time”.
It is from this high we must climb down to say ‘shame’ on Aubrey Norton for his role as a willing participant in Sakur’s portrayal of Afro-Guyanese as impoverished. Blinded by his desire to score political points, Norton is led like a sheep into an underdeveloped area in Sophia, and stands as an accomplice as Sakur says, “If we look at the shacks behind you now, it is obvious that there are many people in this country living without proper sanitation, clean water, and this in a country where the national income per capita is going to be an extraordinary USD 60,000 per year, so the inequality is going to become more and more and more obvious. How close to a dangerous level of anger and instability is that going to take Guyana?”
Norton, of course, falls easily for the infamous ‘divide and rule’ tactic of the Empire, and agrees with Sakur and postulates, “Once we continue to accentuate poverty, it will destabilise the society”.
To be pellucid, the residents of Sophia share in the same water supply as the rest of Georgetown, and every effort is being made to give opportunities to all Guyanese. The examples are too numerous to list: the Local Content Legislation mandating jobs for Guyanese, technical schools, vocational training, government contracts for local work in every village, education at every level, and part-time employment are some of the highlights.
It was left to Sispro’s Ayodele Dalgety-Dean to present a challenge to Sakur and Norton’s portrayal of Afro-Guyanese. Dalgety-Dean is one of four Afro-Guyanese women who have been able to pull together the resources to bid for and win two oil blocks, a remarkable feat for any Guyanese, regardless of gender or race. “To me, it makes absolute sense that we explore and exploit our resources to build and develop our country, no one else is going to,” Dalgety-Dean said. She then went on to challenge the Western countries to halt their oil production to allow Guyana to exploit hers if they are serious about production volumes. Sakur had no answer or follow-up question, and quickly moved on.
Wealthy socialite/Civil Society activist Vanda Radzik chatted with ‘Stephen’ on the seawall. Feet up and clad in splendid white linen, Radzik said she is not convinced of the sense in extracting more fossil fuels, but stopped short of demanding a full stop to oil production when asked. No doubt, Radzik realised the effect such an action would have on the income derived from her share of the Vieira Family Trust, which benefits enormously from land sales and leases from its Houston Estate holdings. I am not the first activist to have a change of heart when it affects their bottom line directly; LOL.
The BBC’s Sakur came to Guyana, a former British colony in the process of becoming one of the richest countries in the world; a country that was exploited by the British and left underdeveloped; yet that is never mentioned. Sakur never talked about Guyana’s game-changing Low Carbon Development Strategy, a world-class leading climate conservation initiative. Instead, Sakur came to paint a picture of the Third World people who won a lottery and would, as a matter of course, squander the proceeds and descend into civil strife.
What the world saw, however, was a country led by a visionary President, who is demonstrably confident in his administration’s efforts on the environment and equitable development.
Sakur’s straw man fallacy was laid bare, and the effort to exacerbate divisions in Guyanese society was transparent and hackneyed to the point of ‘cringe’. I venture that Sakur’s depiction failed because, much like an amateur photographer, his ‘white balance’ was off.
Sincerely,
Robin Singh
