A caretaker President cannot offer any policy direction

Dear Editor,
Hordes of ‘carpetbaggers’ will gather at the Guyana International Petroleum Business Summit and Exhibition” (GIPEX-2019) to feast on Guyana’s oil economy.

On Wednesday, November 20, between 10:25h and 10:40h, they will be welcomed and feted during the opening address by His Excellency Brigadier Ret’d David A Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. Granger will forego the shame of his ‘caretaker’ status to seek to be the centre of attention.

Granger should know that this is not a gathering of benevolent businessmen; this is a gathering of predators who will use every word he utters to their advantage.
A caretaker President cannot offer any policy direction or enter any binding agreements, should Granger offer any loopholes or incentives in his speech or subsequent interaction with GIPEX participants, Guyanese will have to enter massive legal battles to extricate ourselves and no doubt face a hefty legal bill to so do.

Granger’s hubris; his love of pomp, ceremony, and attention will cost us all our future wellbeing.
Granger should be aware by now that GIPEX 2019 has been organised by a shell company with ties to his Minister of Natural Resources, instead of the Department of Events within the Ministry of the Presidency.

Granger cannot claim to ‘not know’ of this instance of corruption as he has with the countless previous incidents. The question of if David Granger comes to this event with clean hands must be asked. Valiant has refused to answer questions of its record prior to hosting this Official Guyanese event.

Despite being dubbed an official Government of Guyana event, GIPEX’s primary purpose is to expose opportunities available for those looking to invest in our oil sector; it should not be organised by a private company.

GIPEX is not an expo, it is a festival of greed with those in attendance all looking out for self-interest. This is a networking love-fest designed to share the spoils of oil and divvy up the Guyanese patrimony. If you live in Sophia, Port Mourant, Linden or any hinterland village, this event has no meaning to you now, but it will affect your standard of living for generations to come.

Even the biggest critics of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic understand that the PPP would never allow the wholesale exploitation of our patrimony that is taking place before our eyes. The PPP would not participate in an event inimical to Guyanese interests.

That said, Citizens should not wait on any political party to organise protests of this odious event; we must take back our rights from the Granger cabal, they have already signed away billions in royalties for a mere US$18 million bonus which they then tried to steal.

We cannot trust them an inch; Guyanese have to represent themselves. We know the time and place of the transgression; we need to stand up to this sellout of our fledgeling oil economy before it is fully formed.

Respectfully,
Robin Singh