A FEW weeks ago, I informed readers that I will publish things my readers feel I should write on, questions they ask of me and things that they felt I left out in specific columns. Here is another article within that landscape. I met this lawyer in Massy’s Supermarket. He said something to me that startled me.

He indicated that I have written a number of pieces on the 42 persons who signed a joint letter to President, Dr Irfaan Ali in November 2023 requesting Guyana’s immediate stoppage of oil production. He added that there is an important, hair-raising dimension to that letter that is not even mentioned in passing. He smiled, looked at me and said, Freddie, “I didn’t expect you to overlook that.”

I reacted by asking for the missing link. He noted that I was correct for chastising these 42 persons by claiming that the fossil fuel industry kills African people. But still smiling (unnecessarily, I thought) he said and I quote his exact words: “Freddie you write the president of a multi-racial country to stop oil production and tell him it kills African people. Aren’t you insulting the man?”
I stared at him speechless. He was right. I missed that crucial dimension. I acknowledged my omission and then he intoned: “You have to write on it.” I promised I will do so and told him I was grateful for his point and I will mention our conversation. Much to my surprise, he exclaimed: “Don’t mention my name.”

So here I am writing about our conversation. The man was right. Here are the names of the 42 persons who insulted President Ali in November 2022. Vanda Radzik, Alissa Trotz, Vidyaratha Kissoon, Karen de Souza, Pauline Melville, Christine Samwaroo, Danuta Radzik, Maya Trotz, Susan Collymore, Joy Marcus, Halima Khan, Vanessa Ross, Wintress White, Gary Girdhari, Nicole Cole, Abbyssinian Carto, Nigel Westmaas, Joan McDonald, Duane de Freitas, Akola Thompson, Joan Cambridge, Immaculata Casimero, Alma O’Connell,Terry Roopnaraine, Colin Klautky, Earl John, Janette Bulkan, Sandy de Freitas, Sherlina Nageer, Jocelyn Dow, Elizabeth Deane-Hughes, Mosa Telford, Suraiya Ismail, Leila Jagdeo, Gerald Perreira, Romario Hastings, Paulette Allicock, Daniel Allicock.

Except for Gerald Perreira, I call upon the 41 persons listed above to send an apology to President Ali right away. I exempted Gerald Perreira because he told me he has withdrawn his signature from the letter. How can these people in multi-racial Guyana write the President for a change of policy and tell the President that they want the policy to change because African people die from that policy.

What act of insane thinking is that? There is a proven case of the deleterious effects of the fossil fuel industry, but it harms the people on Planet Earth without exception. No race is made a special victim of gas house emissions. What were these 41 Guyanese thinking? But more importantly, why has Guyana, the region and the world not reacted to this dastardly disinformation on climate change?

And why in Guyana, there weren’t requests by civil society, political parties, and Guyana’s academia to contact the organizations and institutions that these people are associated with and ask them for an explanation as to the race-laden part of their letter to the president? The correspondence to President Ali was titled, “A fair deal for Guyana, a fair deal for the planet,” and here is the racist part: “Every ton of greenhouse gas pollution helps to destroy our original ancestral home and cause loss of life in African countries.”

Here is a list of some of the signatories and the places they are associated with:
1- Dr. Janet Bulkan – University of British Columbia
2- Dr. Alissa Trotz – University of Toronto
3- Dr. Nigel Westmass – Hamilton College in New York
4- Dr. Maya Trots – University of South Florida
5 – Isabelle DeCaires – Co-owner, Stabroek News

So, are we going to see an apology from these five names? No, we will not. These people are anti-government and anti-PPP. They have an agenda. They will not apologise. On the contrary, (we are nearing the election season and remember this column), there will be more anti-government bashing.

Just examine the names above and you will see what is coming as the election season gets in full swing. Alissa Trotz will make her column, “In the Diaspora” available to a school of PPP-hating diaspora individuals.

Isabelle DeCaires will use the Stabroek News to campaign against the PPP. Janet Bulkan will write her customary poison, so will Nigel Westmaas. But who will listen to them? They have been living abroad for “donkey years.” No one in Guyana knows of them. Remember the famous calypso with the line: “Let him bray, let him bray.”

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.