GECOME is in full readiness for 2023 LGE Are naysayers in pursuit of ulterior motives?

Dear Editor,

With the incessant attack on our sovereign wealth, one wonders if those attackers are interested in the well-being of our country. I ask this question in light of the fact that some of the attacks lack intelligence and merit, which tells anyone with even half a brain that there is a campaign, or an ulterior motive, behind these unwarranted attacks.

From a blatantly negative Opposition to the numerous fly-by-night consultants who have come out of the woodwork to challenge our right to earn a comfortable living from what God has blessed us with, we see them coming forward to make life unbearable for the oil giant ExxonMobil. They are coming forward under the guise that “they care” for us more than we care for ourselves.

The “sympathetic Judases” are here lecturing us as to what we should and should not do with our oil wealth. If this is not the hidden agenda behind their actions, then what is?

Let’s visit one of these. I am talking about the use of natural gas, which comes with the extraction of crude oil. Natural gas, like crude oil itself, is an exhaustible resource, or a non-renewable resource. If not utilized immediately, it is lost forever. In the Guyana experience, gas, being not harvested, is flared. The so-called green experts have complained that this is injurious to the environment, and, as such, should be reinjected into the earth. In either scenario, the natural gas is wasted.

Now, our Government, in its wisdom, has devised a mechanism by which it is planned to bring that gas to shore in a massive project that would see the natural gas as well as its components being used. The naysayers immediately went into action, saying that this project is not economically feasible because it is too expensive.

What asininity! Are you telling me that it is better for this valuable resource to go to waste than be utilised for our economic benefit? But this is the mentality of the “experts.”

What is even more revealing is that one of the so-called experts has approached the international lending agency to block any funding to Guyana for the gas-to-shore project. If this is not a clear case of a group of individuals being out to cripple the Government by stymieing our development, then what is?

The point is that no Third World state can, or will, develop on negatives; it just does not happen that way. True and lasting development comes from determined, visionary, and futuristic thinking. We must utilise our oil resources while there is time, unfettered from the ingrown “ghetto fabulous” mentality of those who seek to hinder our progress. Nothing ventured nothing gained is the watchword!

Try telling a businessman in the central business district of Georgetown that setting up a business there would attract thieves, so he should not set up the business. This is not how the developed world operates, and neither should it be for the developing world either. Or, may I add, try telling the Government of Qatar that venturing out on a dry, barren desert and building a habitable place in the ocean is not a viable venture to engage in.

Today, this country has utilised its oil resources to build one of the most stunning man-made architectural designs of the century, and it is still building! Guyana is at a juncture of huge developmental changes that would necessitate taking risks that are not uncommon when navigating an upward trajectory. I call on our Government to go full speed ahead on this developmental path, and let nothing hinder you. We, the people of this great nation, have given you the mandate to carry out these plans; please do so quickly!

Respectfully,

Neil Adams