…Basil’s bluster?
Attorney General Basil Williams, SC, is a fella who seems full of himself. But when your Eyewitness looked at a tape of him at a press conference, it was clear he’s just full of bluff, bluster and poop. Williams was addressing a very serious charge levelled at him by his predecessor and bête noir Nandlall that he’d threatened the Judge in front of whom they were appearing. And all Williams could do was puff up his chest and refer repeatedly to himself (in the third person) as “The Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, SC”!!
He clearly can’t believe he’s occupying those positions and needs to constantly reassure himself about “who he is”. Like Rodney Dangerfield, Williams thinks he’s not getting the respect he deserves. He complained that once, the Muckraker didn’t give him credit for being a crack criminal lawyer! But after your Eyewitness looked at the press conference, Williams should be reminded that respect is earned and not demanded. And boy, did he demand respect, while putting down others!!
He repeatedly referred to the Judge in question as a “magistrate” who was his “schoolmate”. This might explain insulting the Judge by asking whether he’d made a note of the witness’ answer! This is none of Williams’ business and he presumed upon the dignity of the Court. He obviously thought he’d risen far above the Judge since “school days”. Williams still insisted he couldn’t understand why the Judge thought HE was disrespectful and took “umbrage”!!
Even the threat to the Judge in response to the Judge’s retort: “This is my Court, Mr Williams” was explained in a story about another member of the bench “disrespecting” him. Williams claimed some Magistrate found him in contempt because he’d told the Magistrate that, he, Basil Williams, never failed a course in Law School – but never meant to imply the Magistrate had! Williams said when he informed the Judge that the Magistrate was now dead, it wasn’t a “threat”! But as a lawyer who claimed to “love cross questioning” – of what other relevance was the mention of the Magistrate’s demise in the context of his retort??
Williams also promised to sue the newspapers carrying the “threat” story, but said he knows, “like Nicodemus” they’d come in the night to settle.” He could’ve been referring to an (infamous) taped conversation that went like this:
Voice 1: I just settle a matter with Glenn Lall wheh the Magistrate sue he fuh libel.
Voice 2: Which Magistrate?
Voice 1: Holder-Allen.
Voice 2: Dey settle it?
Voice 1: Uh huh!
Voice 2: Fuh how much?
Voice 1: Just about a hundred thou.
But the AG boasted, “Still I rise!” Go figure!
…Exxon’s drilling?
Exxon just announced it has started drilling its seventh well. Well, it’s actually “spudding” its seventh well for Guyanese excited about this manna coming out from under the sea, who may want to be “wit it” with the lingo!!
So how close are we to that manna? Well, we, Exxon and the world know we’ve got at least 1.1 billion BOE reserves. And Exxon also just signed a FEED contract (Front End Engineering & Design) in preparation for the FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading) facility that’ll ensure no oil touches our shore. The FEED study is the starting point for any offshore development and lets Exxon assess the viability of the Liza project and address any areas of technical uncertainty.
Exxon still hasn’t made its FID (final investment decision, folks!) – but promises to do so by year end. So, since it’ll take at least two to three years to construct the FPSO, oil flow by 2020 is OUT.
And let’s not talk about shale oil – which Exxon just entered, that’ll keep oil prices below US$50!
…no GPSU term limit
Mouth open and story jump out. Your Eyewitness didn’t know the presidency of the GPSU has term limits.
And we expect Public Servants – condoning an illegality in their affairs – to protect us from illegalities??
