WILL we ever get things right in Guyana? Will our technology, health, infrastructure, nation, governance, and security (T.H.I.N.G.S.) ever get fixed to world-class standards? Will we ever feel like a fully independent nation?

I notice that the Americans and British will be taking care of our security; the Canadians are planning to hold onto the potential money bag, and the Chinese are cutting the bush. They giving us Brazilians, too? That’s a downstairs story to talk about, after the children go to sleep.
And don’t forget the Dutch, they will market us.

How did that work for us last time? Sounds like Guyana practising the oldest profession. Maybe Guyanese just like saying ABCs and playing with BRICS like kindergarteners, and not acting like 49-year-olds. But I will leave that to the educational experts and philosophers to debate. For now, among the things to address is technology.

Recently, a newspaper article noted that the namesake of a Russian leader suggested that he will take his toys and leave the playground. His excuse: de toys bruk. Suddenly, once new players entered the rigged game, all the balls, bats, nets, and gloves were no longer fit for play.

Go buy new toys, and get new friends while you are it, seems to be the metaphor. Fine! However, before those players leave, should we remind them that they bought those toys using other people’s money? Should we ask him as team leader to provide a measurement of how carefully, timely and diligently they executed?

There’s a scholar who suggested that, among the elements of care, include attentiveness, responsibility, competence, and responsiveness. How would you rate these? Would you rank competence first? Would you agree that large-scale projects need care and project directors need know-how? Clearly, evidence of a lack of care exists with the Guyana Fibre Optic Cable (GuyFOC). Social media video shows evidence of exposed cable coming from Brazil. Because of incompetence and a lack of care, should we conclude that there was no intent on seeing that project to completion? I can hear the feral blast by dem gyall near Stabroek.
Typical man: He lay cable, it bruk, and he walk away.

I played a mind game with a close friend. She agreed to play along. I asked her to envision herself as a project manager for a fibre-optic cable. I asked her how she would lay a fibre-optic cable. After a brief pause, she thought for a moment and said that digging a gutter and running the cable would make sense. Almost instantaneously, she added that some kind of way to protect it would be required, like using pipe.

Was that an expressed moment of care? Was that something that any project manager should know? I suspect even the maternity ward nurses would say that when you lay cable without protection evidence exists. Should we ask our project manager to see the Gantt chart, or is there no knowledge of that either?

Unfortunately, UG is closing its History Department and not expanding it. There ought to be a lot of archival materials. Could you imagine the doctoral dissertations that could explore John Perkins Economic hit-man theory?

The fibre-optic cable project needs attentiveness, competence, responsibility, and responsiveness. Hopefully the minister in charge of this project will deploy the necessary personnel who will see the project to its end. In fact, should we encourage the minister to actually inspect the cable itself, especially beginning at the point of entry into Guyana and follow it to see the physical protection that was put into place?

Should we ask the minister to demand to know the factors associated with the damage? Should we ask the minister to get a refund?

The proclivity of the Government is their prerogative, but I would posit that a good GuyFOC is badly needed. We need competition in the telecommunications sector. A functioning and modern information technology infrastructure will bring more players into the field.

In fact, more locally owned cell companies should be formed to take advantage of the myriad of possibilities. Would a good example be the formation of a cellphone company by the business-minded students along with the technical students from UG? Some need to come up with a business plan, and others need to form a corporation. Maybe dem choke-and-rob boys could buy shares, or even have a start-up. They could be in business and don’t have to worry about physically harming others, or even search warrants.

Could these budding companies consult with Uncle Brassi? He got time pun he hands. Call it National Service or quid pro quo, or reducing unemployment….your choice.

At the end of the day, the entrepreneurial spirit needs to hit home. Recently, the country chose a BG, but the question remains: How far can the new BG lead us away from the old BG? Nobody will bring jobs; they will take profits. In fact, have you seen the profits made by those other phone companies?

Oh r**s bhai! Guyanese talk nuff, nuff. Perhaps too much talk and not enough action. Children are told what to do, while independent adults choose. Speaking of action and talk, the GuyFOC project manager needs to take his balls, bat, and the rest of his playmates and go. Enough said.

OMOWALE ODINGA