Jun 22, 2026 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

(Kaieteur News) – I like it. More money for Guyanese workers. Not private sector minimum wage workers, regrettably. If any local workers are due more money, private sector (and public service) minimum wage workers standout. More money is for Guyanese in the oil industry. Well, that’s the call, with PPP Govt Minister Vickram Bharrat doing the honors. A timely push from the government. But as Guyanese know better than me -waan haan caan klap. How will the oil companies and other entities, all foreign, respond to this significant government call? I foresee a few, ah, hiccups. Some sneezing to cause watery eyes and runny noses. I live with allergies, so I recognise the triggers. More money for Guyanese is a trigger, pollen shower.

More money for Guyanese workers in Guyana’s oil industry means all the companies, local and foreign, have to shell out for cash. The bottom line gets thinner. Nowhere near red. But not as green. Not as many greenbacks to export to U.S. banks. Not as much for local companies keeping their stashes at home. It has been hailed rather heartily that people are a company’s best assets. That is, until money matters surface and get in the way. More money, especially more pay, has historically led to bad friends and bad blood. Simply ask Guyanese luminaries Lincoln Lewis and Seepaul Narine. Poor Seepaul! Even he own peeple in de PPP givin he haad kyaad fuh he peeple in de fields. More money to be paid by foreign companies to local workers, so they are at a comparable level with their expatriate neighbors, is going to cause those companies to wince. And, once they have to pony up, that may mean that local companies with local workers could be compelled to do something. Not necessarily the same, but something more in the envelope.