…small businesses
Even without oil in sight, Chinese were starting to enter the supermarket business in Guyana. Early on, your Eyewitness had raised red flags about the phenomenon: he’d been in Suriname and seen that within a decade of their entry into that trade there, they’d displaced locals, and were running 90% of supermarkets by 2015!! There hasn’t been a survey done in Guyana on the control of supermarkets by Chinese immigrants, but from his (wide) travels across his homeland – including the interior, he’s willing to hazard a guess that we’re approaching the Surinamese numbers here.
But your Eyewitness isn’t concerned only about supermarkets, he’s looking ahead at what’s in store for Guyanese small businesses as the oil money enters the real economy within the decade. In the oil industry, foreigners – especially Trinis – have already strategically positioned themselves by registering all sorts of companies to service ancillary needs. Others are looking ahead at what our needs will be as the economy expands – on infrastructural development alone! – and getting ready to grab our cake.
The point about all of this is that the politicians – especially from the two dominant parties – should be forced to make pronouncements on their policies on three of the factors of production – labour, entrepreneurship, and capital. The last factor, land, is about all we got, but it can trump the others, since we can regulate what is to happen on that land.
Immigration concerns labour and entrepreneurship, and capital is…well…capital!!
The problem with capital is that our economy was completely liberalised after 1989 by the IMF “conditionalities”, which have left us with almost zero controls on capital entering and leaving our shores. While we got a taste of what this can do with the shortage of US greenbacks, this could lead to all sorts of even more devastating consequences in our new oil-based economy. As, for instance, like the collapse of the Far Eastern economies in 1997, when “hot money” suddenly fled.
On labour, there must be an immigration policy to determine who we would allow to enter Guyana to work and set up businesses. If they’re entrepreneurs who’ll open up businesses that Guyana doesn’t have – and hire locals – then for sure they should be allowed in. But running supermarkets?? Naaah. That’s not going to develop us a whit. Fact of the matter is that every country that’s now “developed” had some sort of “infant industry protection” regime in place in its early days. And even for lower level jobs and services, Malaysia and most countries in Africa – including South Africa after their riots –have legislated enumerated restrictions in a host of activities.
No new Government can allow a Wild West situation to develop here! We’d perish in the shoot-out!
…AFC’s nether orifice
How much more humiliation can Ramjattan take?? Nagamootoo, we know, has an infinite capacity for being abused, since he’s clearly masochistic!! Granger clearly doesn’t want Ramjattan as his PM – even though Ramjattan was his party’s choice by acclamation. Why else would Granger have not one, but TWO meetings with him after the AFC’s decision to call the PNC’s bluff? The deadline has now expired.
But, in his studied silence since the last meeting, when he would’ve obviously known what Granger’s verdict is, it’s clear that more humiliation is in store for him, and he’s willing to take it. We don’t even have to know the exact terms of Granger’s dictat; we know that even if he gets the PM’s nod, the position will be made even more anaemic than under the caponed Nagamootoo.
Some say it’ll be on an explicit agreement for him to do the three-step-shuffle they’d derided Sam Hinds about. Others say it’ll be a drastic reduction of Ministries.
Your Eyewitness frankly thinks Ramjattan is out like the micro-mini from the 1960s!!
…Patterson
GPL has run out of fuel. Imagine that!! You’d think that it’s elementary to have sufficient reserve stocks on hand. And Patterson still isn’t fired!!
But in the triage situation created, Berbice will suffer first!
Wonder why!!