During a trip to a conference on the management of natural resources, a Guyanese entrepreneur, Mr. Smith, was questioned by a Japanese participant about the status of the only English-speaking country on the continent of South America. During the flight, Mr. Tanaka enquired politely but with concealed disdain, why Guyana has so many natural resources but remains in extreme poverty? This classic question was made even more germane because it proceeded from the lips of a national whose country is not blessed with an abundance of natural resources but has attained the status of the world’s second largest developed economy. Dressed in his business suit and pitch black shoe befitting a statesman, Mr. Smith responded: ‘our politicians are the ones to be blamed’.
DEAD SOULS
Indeed, Mr. Smith, but what about the people? A credible response should not exclude those who provide blind support to those leaders. Also, it is folly to castigate a political system while excluding its enablers. It seems, after decades of tribalism and blind ethnic commitments, the souls of the people have been deaden to the point of no resurrection and every single national issue is assigned to the cauldron of ethnic insecurities. As a consequence, corrupt leadership that ought to spark revolutions in normal societies, are non-events because they are viewed through the prism of ethnic interests. In this, the people remain divided and the emergence of national movements is near impossible. Thus, the country remains a corrupt politician’s paradise.
As well as the aforementioned, the ethnic wool is pulled over the eyes of the people and the country becomes an effortless heist for corrupt officials. In such context, any natural resource, let alone black gold, that enters such fray, is doomed to failure insofar as benefits to the people are concerned. So, it ought to be evident to any reasonable mind that cataclysmic change for the better has to begin to with the man and woman in the mirror. In the absence of that, what is the worth of this monumental oil discovery?
CANJE AND KAIETEUR BLOCKS
If there is anyone who disagrees with what I have said thus far and would dare to suggest that this time around it will be different due to the untold riches of oil wealth, I point to the scandalous Canje and Kaieteur blocks affair. As first reported by Global Witness and subsequently being passionately prosecuted by Kaieteur News, the point being made here is aptly demonstrated. In this case, a sitting President signs away oil blocks worth billions in a shady and patently corrupt process just before an election to dubious business men and entities who know nothing about oil and the dead souls are unperturbed. After months of education and revelations about this revolting state of affairs, the people seem to be wearing their usual faces of extreme disinterest while uttering the favorite question: ‘What that got to do with the price of cheese?’. While in a normal society this would spark outrage and provoke cataclysmic political consequences, in this instance, one of the players has been rewarded with a new lease on political life. This encourages, breathes and nurtures bad leadership and stymies development.
What is the worth of oil to the long term development of the nation in such a regrettable circumstance? Absolutely nothing.
