Dear Editor:
I believe that Guyana has another chance, this time, to deliver its offshore Oil and Gas bounty for the benefit of all of the residents of Guyana.
I am a Guyanese-born American citizen, long gone from Guyana, but my navel string was buried near the punt trench in Palmyra. And periodically I can still feel its pulse, as I pray for a better life for those still living in Guyana and whenever I visit.
In my opinion, Guyana missed the promise that came with Independence; the promise of the elections of 1992; the promise of Bharrat Jagdeo’s youthful presidency; the promise of the Coalition government; and most of the potentialities of gold, bauxite, rice, sugar, forest, fish, falls and freshwater.
And now, there is Oil and Gas. In abundance. There is currently a lot of oil in the world’s reserves and a short time to monetize it, because I believe, in about twenty to thirty years, fossil fuels like oil and gas will become obsolete, replaced for the most part by energy derived from wind, water, solar, tidal, hydrogen, landfill, recyclables, biomass and other alternatives less harmful to the environment.
If Guyanese are to get the benefit of the likely, (though not guaranteed) oil bonanza, the country’s political leaders need to work together. The asymmetry in knowledge, skills, resources and confidence between the major oil companies and Guyana’s representatives will always favour the majors. Local divisions and political uncertainties will increasingly handicap Guyana’s negotiating positions, and while the folks at Exxon and other international oil corporations will invariably be among the kindest, generous and big-hearted people you are likely to meet, those characteristics will not be most manifest at the table of serious business.
Editor, is there any way that the leadership of the two major political parties can work out a plan, before the upcoming elections, to share the governance of the nation and particularly the management and stewardship of the nation’s Oil and Gas stream of income? I can already sense that some already see the triumphalism inbred in the winner takes all platforms of history. In Guyana that will leave about half the population as losers, if this mindset moves into the oil future. Money, especially big money, often bring out the worst in most people.
I have read that both major political parties think that they will win the next elections. One will and one will not. Which and which, I do not know. Nor do I think that either of them knows for sure, bluster apart. The closeness of the elections of 2011 and 2015 should give pause to both of them.
I believe that the people of Guyana will be better off, if the two major parties agree beforehand, to something like this: that the two parties will form a joint government; that the winning party will get the Presidency; that the second party will get the Prime Ministership and first pick on a Cabinet position; then the first party gets the next two cabinet picks; and then rotating two picks at a time until all the cabinet positions are filled with the winning party having in the end, one more cabinet position than the second party; and that the various commissions and statutory bodies will reflect a similar distribution.
I know that this will not be easy on the ego, or on the addictive highs of absolute power and privileges, or the temptations of mucho dinero, or as the preeminent dispenser of favours and rewards; and many other potential difficulties that I cannot foresee. But if all Guyanese are to have a fair chance of getting an equitable share of the benefits from the Oil and Gas industry, all I can envisage is some sort of shared governance agreement.
For sure, there will be legal hurdles, perhaps some constitutional ones as well, but those are for the legal experts to resolve.
Guyana, please try to get it right this time.
Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh, Midland, Texas |
Dear Editor:
Now that the cricket world cup has ended, I would like to make a few comments on the performance of the West Indies team. To say that the performance of the West Indies team was poor would be an understatement, it was more like atrocious and embarrassing and at times too painful to watch. To begin with, the captaincy of Jason Holder was poor and lacked imagination. He does not possess that killer instinct and to go for the jugular when West Indies are on top and the opponents are down and out, for example against Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He is too laid back and allows things to drift and does not seize the crucial moments. Also, his own performance was mediocre and was the worst of all the captains at the world cup. I strongly believe Clive Lloyd made a big mistake when he appointed Jason Holder as captain at the age of twenty-two. He should have allowed him to develop as a player first and gain more experience before offering the captaincy.
As for the batsmen, although most of them are talented, many of them have technical flaws and lack mental awareness to read the game. In other words they do not know when to attack and when to dig in and fight it out when the situation warrants it. Too many times they threw their wickets away with ill-advised shots when the situation warranted otherwise. Many of them got out consistently by trying to hook balls that would have sailed over their heads or trying to pull balls to the leg- side at face height which they could have easily left alone. It was a question of poor shot selection. And Gayle was a big disappointment. As the most experienced batsman he should have been the lead batter with the rest batting around him, but it was not to be and that also hurt West Indies big time. He was a real let down. He should go now and give another young man a chance.
And finally the bowling was up and down, sometimes very good and other times very poor. Let me say this, it was a shame that Kemar Roach was not selected for the earlier games. He would have made a big difference. He along with Cottrell were our best bowlers. Oshane Thomas has a serious fitness problem and should not be selected for 50 over games, only 20/20 games. His pace drops drastically when he has to bowl 10 overs and his fielding is very poor. We also needed another quality spinner. Nurse and Allen were no good. We desperately needed a Sunil Narine and Russell should not have been selected with all the injuries problems he has. Keemo Paul should have been selected instead.
Editor, I cannot end this letter without mentioning the selectors. Until, we have selectors who will put West Indies cricket first before their personal and fellow countrymen’s interest, West Indies cricket will continue to be in the doldrums. We must eradicate insularity from West Indies cricket and to this end the buck stops with Ricky Skerritt and Dr Kishore Shallow.
Imtiaz Baccus via email
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