I have been following the recent discussions in the media in relation to the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and it is disheartening to me as a Guyanese that every effort by government to bring some form of financial surcease to the people of this country seems to be meeting with total and blind opposition from all quarters.
The LCDS deal is not the only one; in 1999 the US$300 million Beal Deal between the Government and Beal Aerospace Corp. of the United States to build the world’s first private spaceport was killed.
This deal was challenged in the High Court by the main opposition party and the furore that was created by Guyanese was one of the primary reasons for this deal falling through, although President Hugo Chavez’s uproar over the dormant border dispute was also a contributing factor to the end to the deal as well.
The Amerindians protested then too; they were concerned with environmental damage and human rights activists at the time complained about lack of transparency in the deal.
All of this contributed to the US pulling out of the deal and Guyana not gaining anything in the long run.  While I am not saying that concerned citizens should not express their concerns, we need to make an effort to understand that what the Government is trying to do is on the behalf of the entire country and not just for the benefit of one particular section of society.
We need to have intelligent and constructive criticisms and discussions and not turn up our noses at every attempt to bring outside investment to Guyana.  It appears very badly to the outside world, it makes us appear stagnant and simple, and it also sends a message that the people of this country want to be forever mired in poverty.
It is also ironic that the same people, who constantly try to stymie every investment from the US or any other country in Guyana, are the first to run to the US asking them to intervene in alleged human rights violation.