Dem boys seh this Sunday morning find we sittin on de bench outside Auntie Pearl rumshop in Sophia, sippin we coffee, wonderin how one country can produce so much oil and still have people lookin for change fuh buy cookup rice.

Dem boys seh de papers this Sunday morning ain’t bring no good news.

De Exxon ting

Dem boys seh Kaieteur do de math again. Between 2020 and 2024: Exxon and dem partner get US$29 billion. Guyana get US$5.4 billion. Dem boys seh that is what dem does call a 50/50 partnership in Guyana — where one side get fifty percent of fifty-eight billion, and de other side get fifty percent of what left over after de accountants finish writing off expenses.

Dem boys seh Christopher Ram gone on radio and call de government “amateurish.” Dem boys seh is a polite word. Dem boys know Ram been frustrated for years. When a chartered accountant reach for polite words, it mean he too professional to use de real ones.

Dem boys seh de ring-fencing ting is like this: imagine if you get a job, and yuh boss tell yuh “okay, you work at de store, yuh make five hundred dollar a week. But I gon take four hundred of it to pay for de new store I buildin across town. You keep one hundred. But don’t worry! When de new store make money, we gon share dat.” And you ask, “when dat gon happen?” And he seh, “eventually.”

Dem boys seh dat is ring-fencing.

Dem boys seh dem don’t have a degree in accounting. But dem boys know when dem getting kotch.

Ali seh fuh brace

Dem boys seh de President telling we fuh brace ourselves for more price increase. Dem boys have a question.

Brace ourselves with what?

Dem boys seh Sylvester mother been bracing herself since 2022. She brace through de cooking oil price goin up. She brace through de flour price goin up. She brace through de school shoe price goin up. She brace through de electricity bill goin up. De woman don’t have any more brace left to brace with. She brace out.

Dem boys seh when de President tell de nation “brace,” dem should also tell de nation specifically what dem plan to do about de reason we bracin. Otherwise is jus a weatherman tellin we it gon rain without givin we an umbrella.

De gold company and de four point six million ounce

Dem boys seh a Canadian company sittin on 4.6 million ounce of gold in Guyana and dem lookin for local transportation service.

Four point six million ounce. At current gold price (round about US$2,400 per ounce), dat is US$11 billion worth of gold dat a Canadian company sittin on. In our country. With a royalty agreement we probably gon find out about when de next Kaieteur investigation come out.

Dem boys seh de Canadian company need local transportation. Dem boys available. We will personally drive de gold to de port. Dem boys have a Tapir pickup from 2008 that still runnin. De transportation rate gon be fair. We accept payment in gold ounce.

De airstrip

Dem boys seh Matthews Ridge gettin a $800 million airstrip. Juan Edghill say it gon finish in June.

Dem boys seh fair enough. Matthews Ridge is a mining town, is in Region One, and dem people been crying out for proper infrastructure for years. Dem boys glad Matthews Ridge gettin something.

But dem boys also wan to know: if Matthews Ridge airstrip cost $800 million, how come de road from Georgetown to Linden still look like somebody drop a bunch of potholes from a helicopter? Dem boys pass through dat road two week ago and de car suspension make a noise dem never hear a car make before. Dem boys had to pull over and make sure de engine still in de car.

De waste bin ting in Jamaica

Dem boys seh even if we don’t go outside Guyana, de Caribbean news this weekend is wild. In Jamaica, one Howard Lau gentleman tell de Auditor General that he ain’t payin back de money for de waste bin import scheme because de bin “not his bill.”

Dem boys seh in Guyana, if de Auditor General call yuh, de only answer is “yes sir, yes ma’am, please tell me where to deposit.” Because de Auditor General in Guyana have a particular energy, and you don’t want to test it.

But in Jamaica, apparently you can just seh “not my bill.” Dem boys gon try dat approach next time de GRA come calling. “De income tax? Oh dat not my bill. That belong to me neighbour. Go next door.”

Dem boys expect de GRA response gon be educational.

De Cumuto cemetery

Dem boys seh we cannot laugh about what happen in Trinidad this weekend. 56 bodies find in a shallow grave at Cumuto Cemetery. A funeral home workers dumpin human remains like dem ah clean out a storage shed.

Dem boys seh hold a thought for dem families. Dem paid for proper burial. Dem grieved. Dem believed de business was honorin dem people. And dem was bein lied to de whole time.

Dem boys seh Trinidad need to investigate dis all de way to de top of de funeral home and every office dat supposed to be regulatin dem. Because 56 bodies don’t get dumped without somebody knowin, somebody signing paperwork wrong, somebody takin money for services not rendered.

Rest in peace to dem souls. May dem families get answers.

De Reggae Girlz vs we Golden Jaguars

Dem boys seh de football game tonight. Jamaica home, playin we Golden Jaguars at 7 pm. Dem boys gon watch at de rumshop with Auntie Pearl TV on.

Dem boys seh whatever happen, come home proud, ladies. You went to Kingston and you represented de green and gold. You made Guyana proud even before de whistle blow.

If you win: dem boys gon celebrate till Monday morning. If you lose: dem boys gon remind everyone that Concacaf is tough and we young.

Either way: Go Golden Jaguars!

Closin thought

Dem boys seh dis week reveal de same thing dem boys seh every week. De powerful gettin richer. De vulnerable gettin told to brace. De systems dat supposed to protect de people is either captured, broken, or pretendin to work.

But dem boys seh also: a Canadian company can’t move 4.6 million ounce of gold without Guyanese truck drivers. A president can’t govern without Guyanese who go to work every day. An oil company can’t extract without Guyanese workers, Guyanese lawyers, Guyanese accountants, Guyanese coastguard.

Dem boys seh de power is more distributed than it look. De question is whether we willin to use it.

Enjoy de Sunday, Guyana. See yuh at de rumshop.

— Dem Boys