Good morning. The numbers are in for the first quarter and they confirm, once again, what this administration has known all along: vision, discipline, and petroleum produce results.
THE $159 BILLION QUESTION
Let us be direct. When critics said this government could not manage oil revenues responsibly, we noted their doubts. When they said the Natural Resource Fund would become a political instrument, we noted their fears. G$159 billion in a single quarter. Deposited. Documented. Published in the Official Gazette for any citizen to read. This is not an accident. This is the consequence of a government that insisted on transparent governance of petroleum wealth when the easier path would have been to spend first and account later. The easier path was not taken. The results are visible.
GULF STATES AND STORAGE: THINKING REGIONALLY
President Ali’s invitation to Gulf state investors to consider large-scale storage facilities in Guyana is not a casual suggestion. It reflects a strategic calculation that Guyana’s oil infrastructure must grow in proportion to its production capacity, and that the capital and expertise to build that infrastructure need not come only from traditional Western partners. The Middle East has built more energy storage infrastructure in forty years than the Western Hemisphere has in a century. Inviting that expertise here is not dependence. It is good judgment about who has done this before.
On the second Gas-to-Energy project in Berbice: yes, pipelines cost money. The Wales project had difficulties that the government has acknowledged and learned from. Difficulty is not failure. Failure is not trying. The Berbice project will proceed on a stronger evidentiary basis precisely because of what was learned at Wales.
THE DIGITAL REGISTRY: ACCOUNTABILITY IS NOT SURVEILLANCE
Some will read the announcement of a digital registry for road users and see overreach. Ramesh reads it and sees overdue accountability for a road safety crisis that kills Guyanese people every week. The registry tracks traffic offences. It is accessible to agencies that need to know whether a person appearing before them has a history of reckless behaviour. This is how modern governance works. Countries that have implemented similar systems have seen measurable reductions in road fatalities. Guyana’s roads are not safe. A database that creates consequences for dangerous driving is not the government watching you. It is the government trying to keep you alive.
101 NEW POLICE: INVESTMENT IN SECURITY
The graduation of 101 recruits from Georgetown, Berbice, and Essequibo reflects continued investment in the national security apparatus. Eight months of rigorous training. Digital file management. Crime scene simulation. Traffic procedures. These are officers who will be deployed to every region in this country. The Deputy Commissioner’s call for community partnership and ethical conduct is not empty language. It is the policy direction of an administration that understands policing without community trust is policing without effectiveness. The two things must go together. This government has invested in both the numbers and the training to make them go together.
CARIFTA AND REGIONAL STANDING
Six medals from CARIFTA. The table tennis team qualified for the CAC Games. The chess federation has a new national champion. These achievements do not arrive by accident. They arrive because a government that invests in youth development creates young people who can compete at the highest levels. The connection between social investment and sporting achievement is not metaphorical. It is direct. You build the infrastructure, you fund the programs, and eventually the medals come home. They are coming home.
Ramesh Sees It Differently is a satirical pro-government column. Ramesh’s views are his own, which happen to align exactly with the government’s, which Ramesh regards as a coincidence.