I READ with equitable interest and alarm the antipathetic stance he is assuming, for this current government, in the oil-and-gas imbroglio inherited from the past administration. Again, his missive is assuming the mantle of a provocateur, interweaving fiction as fact, theory as objectivity and his pen as a cutlass. Using smokes and mirrors, his diatribe diametrically denouncing Vice-President (VP) Jagdeo’s narrative on the inherited complexity of the veritable Pandora’s Box of Guyana’s oil and gas, is quite disingenuous. In several perusals, I am disappointed that Lall has not evidenced an iota of proof of his catharsis, yet feebly attempting to excoriate the VP’s public sensitisation of Guyana’s oil situation. Coming from an ABC country, I am certain that as an arbitrageur Lall had experienced market inefficiencies and how to take advantage of derivatives of the same asset to engender profitable arbitrage opportunities. He is, I am positive, also cognisant of the secrecy involved to gain/maintain the asset advantages in order to maximise profitability. How then is that different from what the VP and Guyana Government is

championing for the greater good of the citizenry by strategically managing negotiations? Should the government over-promise and under-deliver? This is an altruistic tale of David vs Goliath that The Honourable Vice-President Bharat Jagdeo, has been commissioned to carry out, by the prevailing government. In my humble opinion, Dr. Jagdeo, by virtue of being a past President as well as Finance Minister, possesses the requisite skillsets and experience to broker favourable agreements for the benefit of all.  Fencing a “fit-for-purpose” team with the required academic discipline and in alignment with the government-sanctioned objectives, will tenaciously “thrust and parry” to eke out successful outcomes.
Editor, a country where the future of over 750,000 folk, and counting, are at stake; where the nation’s patrimony was systematically denuded by inefficacious management by the previous government, including the, ummm, HIDDEN signing bonus… hmnnn… wait… wait… wait….I wonder…. Did Lall ever upbraid THAT administration for inequity, whilst being in their employ? I think not. This thunderously reverberates as pure hypocrisy on Lall’s penmanship. Robert Browning’s “He who pays the Piper calls the tune” comes to mind.

Editor, referencing the Wales gas-to-shore site, revealed by the VP, that Lall is jeremiading about is Lall’s convenient conjuration of the Mephistophelean Waltz. His dirge of the VP’s non- disclosure of feasibility information about other possible sites will be the causative factors to influence the contracted firm to, unequivocally, choose Wales, is a discredit to Lall’s lazy logic and scholarship. Again, he parrots fiction as fact, expecting that the general public will gobble up his pusillanimous dilations. And again, I ask. No contrarian narratives / opinions from you, Mr. Lall, when you were employed by the previous government? Why not? Why now? Surely you must have heard/read VP Jagdeo’s explanation that Wales was primarily chosen for the gas-to-shore site to minimise the expected negative environmental impact, and further, planned initiatives for other regions, population-density studies and impact on the green initiative, etc. If not, Mr. Lall, Sir, I also recommend that you access Guyanese son of the soil Joel Bhagwandin’s comprehensive, non-political, analytical literature on why Wales is optimal for the gas-to-shore initiative. Editor, Lall taking digs at President Irfaan Ali, VP Jagdeo and the entire administration, by extension, is counter-productive, especially if CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is absent. Opining without objectivity is continuous trauma for this already scarred nation and to perpetuate divisiveness by penmanship/readership is visible marginalisation. This nation is slowly rebuilding and healing and this fledgling government is accelerating the pace of initiatives with alacrity, as President Ali has previously declared that he is the President for/ to ALL Guyanese. Give nation building a chance.

Regards,

Jonathan Subrian Esq.