– It is distasteful and should not be encouraged- Ramson
By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell
Attorney-at-law Charles Ramson has frowned upon what he described as a blatant attempt “distort public opinion.”
He was referring to actions by the Director of Public Information (DPI), Imran Khan; William Walker of Oasis Café; and part owner of Oil Now, Michael Leonard, all members of the Alliance For Change (AFC).
Recently, Al Jazeera broadcast a 25-minute programme, which focused on Guyana’s oil boom. Making contributions to that programme were attorney-at-law, Christopher Ram; Director of Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Lisa Sachs; former Presidential Advisor, Jan Mangal and Khan.
On that programme, Khan painted a glorious picture of Guyana’s oil and gas industry.
The DPI said many things that were refuted by Ram and Mangal.
He spoke of all the strong efforts Government is making, all the international advice it is taking and how better off Guyana will be. In fact, Khan even made a commitment that Guyana will be ready for first oil by 2020.
Essentially, he was saying that within less than two years, Guyana will have a Local Content Policy, a Sovereign Wealth Fund, a Petroleum Commission, a National Oil Spill Response Plan, a functioning Energy Agency and other required tools that can speak to true readiness.
Ramson pointed to Khan’s unrealistic comments.
But perhaps Khan’s biggest sin, according to Ramson, was his attempt to skew public opinion.

The comment

During the Al Jazeera programme, the hosts were taking comments from “the community.” The unwitting hosts were of the opinion that these comments were from regular Guyanese. Lo and behold, it turned out that quite a few of these comments were being offered by persons sitting right next to Khan.
Particularly, comments were made by Walker and Leonard.
At one point, the host said, “…On the other side though, someone who might agree with you (Khan)” and she went on to read Walker’s comment.
Walker said that there was already a “bump in economic activities” in Guyana, a comment that is not supported by the cry of businessmen.
Later on in the programme, the host read a comment from Leonard who expressed optimism in the great things ahead for Guyana.
She turned her attention to Ram and said, “People seem excited about this, what is your take?”

the Facebook post

Ram said, “Yes, this is a major moment for Guyana. But, we have always been a richly endowed country with a really small population. So, the per capita wealth in our resources is quite considerable.
“The point is, two years before first oil we are just not ready. We are talking about a Sovereign Wealth Fund like it is some legal instrument. I am sorry, Imran, you have it completely wrong. I know you work with the government and you have to say that but a Sovereign Wealth Fund is much more than a legal instrument.”
Ramson provided this newspaper with a photo that was uploaded on Facebook after the show. In the photo, Khan was surrounded by Walker and Leonard, “which means that they were in the same room, commenting while he is speaking.”
Ramson said that it is unforgiveable that “Government’s propaganda machinery tried to give the impression that the Guyanese masses are happy with what is going on. It is distasteful and should not be allowed.”
He said, “This means that they were not comfortable enough that persons not connected to the government will speak well about what is happening on the oil front.”