Dear Editor,
More than five years after first raising concerns about accountable governance in an oil-producing economy, the situation remains fundamentally unchanged. This is even more troubling where foreigners are arriving in stampedes and, in many instances, demonstrating little or no regard for our laws, customs and practices. In 2021, yours truly made clear that accountable governance is indispensable to building a safe and productive labour force.[1] Today, that warning still stands.
We are marking time. Worse, we are digging ourselves deeper into counterproductive practices that erode our national ethos, undermine workers’ rights, weaken institutions, and stall genuine advancement. A country awash with oil wealth cannot credibly claim progress when so many of its people are poor, its workers and citizens remain marginalised and excluded from decision-making.
Government does not own Guyana. It governs at the pleasure of the people and must do so in accordance with the Constitution and the law. The Constitution of Guyana prescribes our rights, and these rights must be upheld regardless of which government occupies office. Article 13 mandates the establishment of an “inclusionary democracy” by providing increasing opportunities for citizens and their organisations to participate in the management and decision-making processes of the State, particularly in areas that directly affect their well-being.
A constitutional right cannot be honoured in the breach. Guyanese must insist that both Government and Opposition pass the relevant legislation to give effect to Article 13. Inclusive governance requires government, opposition, and stakeholders working together for the national good. No administration has the authority to deny citizens what the supreme law guarantees.
Political operatives continue to behave as though workers are their subjects and Guyana’s resources belong to them to dispense as they please, while the masses remain deprived. Labour registers its strongest disapproval of this plantation-style, massa-thinking and urges society to demand enforcement of a system of government that is accountable to the people. The time has come for citizens to agitate for meaningful participation in decisions affecting our economic, social, cultural and political well-being. These matters must be shaped by the people, not by external interests or internal actors indifferent to the public good.
We must hold all governments accountable to respect our rights and uphold the law, whether or not we support them at the polls. The country does not belong to any administration; it belongs to all of us. Those elected serve at the will of the people and on our behalf. Every supporter of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has the right to demand that the government keeps its promises, just as the Opposition has a duty to do the same.
What is occurring in the foreign-dominated oil and gas sector remains deeply troubling. Exploitation of workers persists. When workers question conditions, retaliation follows — including not being recalled after turnaround. Guyanese workers continue to be denied equal pay for equal work compared with foreign counterparts. One must question whether this environment is being facilitated by a regime that speaks of respecting workers’ rights but shows little urgency in enforcing labour laws and international conventions designed to protect them. Whatever the limitations of the oil contract, nothing prevents stronger enforcement of worker protections.
The Irfaan Ali regime has not meaningfully engaged the Opposition and trade unions to craft laws, policies and programmes that secure workers’ welfare and advancement. The regime appears to be continuing where it left off in 2015, offering little new hope to the Guyanese labour force. The contempt now evident in the oil and gas sector did not begin there. It traces back more than a decade to Bauxite Company Guyana Incorporated (BCGI), where the PPP/C government facilitated the excesses of RUSAL management. Guyanese bauxite workers were rendered second-class citizens in their own land, as labour rights were disregarded and the laws of Guyana treated as optional.
Yet again, we are hearing promises to reopen BCGI, even as the affected workers were robbed of their lawful termination benefits. The Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union (GB&GWU) wrote to the Labour Minister and the Chief Labour Officer requesting intervention to address this injustice. That correspondence is either lying unattended on a desk or has been thrown in the waste baskets. That precedent signalled to other foreign companies that enforcement would be weak. If the government — part owner of BCGI — would not rein in those excesses, why would it restrain others where it has no ownership interest? The pattern of inaction has consequences.
The Ali/Jagdeo regime once condemned the Granger/Nagamootoo administration for signing what many regard as a lopsided oil contract. Today, they resist renegotiating the very agreement they criticised, despite the parliamentary Opposition’s public commitment to support renegotiation. Such inconsistency erodes public trust and exposes a troubling double standard. Campaign promises must not dissolve once office is attained.
Calls by civil society and the Opposition to renegotiate the original contract and safeguard the environment now face resistance from a political party that, when in Opposition, was the loudest champion of that very call. The nation cannot ignore that contradiction. And even with the amassing of great wealth — more than US$8 billion in five years — significant sections of society remain excluded, as poverty and child malnutrition escalate. The people of this nation deserve better. With political will we can do better.
Citizens and workers must not allow political expediency to replace accountable governance. When leaders promise renegotiation and the creation of thousands of jobs, they must present credible pathways and measurable outcomes. Announcements alone do not create employment. In more mature democracies, political leaders are pressed by media and civil society to demonstrate feasibility.
Here, numbers are often presented without transparent mechanisms. If leaders wish to model themselves after international examples, they must also accept equivalent scrutiny. Our role as citizens is to hold all governments accountable — including those we support. History shows that when governments are not held accountable, they grow indifferent to the very people who placed them in office.
Accountable governance is essential to a safe and productive workforce. Lest we forget, the laws were enacted to protect every citizen, every worker, regardless of sector, perceived political affiliation, or ethnic identity. What affects one worker affects all. Trade unions cannot and must not sit idly by while the rights of their members are trampled. Solidarity forever. The union makes us strong.