Dear Editor
President Irfaan Ali went to Houston and sold the world a story about.
โ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒโ
๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐น ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ.ย ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ.ย ย
๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐.
๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น-๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ. ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ .๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ. ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ.
๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ.
Because while the President speaks fluently about global imbalance, he remains conspicuously silent on the most glaring imbalance of allโthe one unfolding under his own administration.
Nearly 60% of Guyanese citizens are living in poverty or hovering dangerously close to itโa figure grounded in multidimensional assessments and cost-of-living realities that continue to outpace wage growth. At the same time, Guyana has recorded one of the fastest GDP growth rates in the world, driven almost entirely by oil production.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ. ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ.
You cannot lecture the international community about fairness while presiding over an economy where oil revenues have exceeded billions of US dollars annually, yet public transparency on how those funds tangibly improve household conditions remains limited and inconsistent.
The Natural Resource Fund continues to accumulate and disburse billions, but the link between withdrawals and measurable improvements in health care delivery, education quality, wage growth, and cost-of-living relief is, at best, unevenโand at worst, obscured.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ฏ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ.
The cost of basic food items has climbed steadily over the past three years. Foodย and fuel-linked expenses remain volatile despite promises of relief through the gas-to-energy projectโa project that has itself faced cost escalations and timeline concerns.
Public sector wages, though adjusted, continue to lag behind inflationary pressures. Meanwhile, large-scale infrastructure contractsโoften awarded at significant costโproceed with limited public scrutiny, raising persistent concerns about procurement transparency and value for money.
๐ฆ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐: ๐๐ต๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ?
You cannot speak of โdistribution gapsโ globally while ignoring the widening economic divide locallyโwhere luxury developments expand, vehicle imports surge among the affluent, and visible wealth concentrates along a narrow corridor of beneficiaries.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐. ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
๐๐ผ๐๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ด๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต.
๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐พ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ.
The President proudly declared that Guyana is using its hydrocarbon wealth to โfinance the future.โ But the evidence suggests that the future is being financed unevenly.
๐๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐๐น๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ:
๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐.ย ย
๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐.ย ย
๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐, ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ก๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด.ย ย
๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐ผ๐๐.
Instead, what we see is a country where macroeconomic success coexists with microeconomic strain.
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐. ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฟ๐ฒ.
What makes this moment particularly jarring is the moral framing he chose. This was not a technical addressโit was a lecture on fairness, responsibility, and global justice.
๐๐๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑโ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ.
And right now, the data, the lived experiences of citizens, and the visible disparities across the country do not support the narrative being exported to the world.
๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐. ๐๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐.
So when President Ali says the world needs balance, he is right.
But until that balance is visible in the lives of ordinary Guyaneseโuntil oil wealth translates into broad-based, measurable prosperityโthose words will continue to collapse under the weight of local reality.
๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
Sincerely
Hemdutt Kumarย
