The resistance to a possible take-over of Banks DIH by Ansa McAl has spawned a website, http://www.savebanksdih.com,, that among other things invites supporters to send messages to the Trinidadian company while railing against the power of transnationals.
One of the two letters to Ansa McAl warns, "Nice to know that you want to invest some of your money in Guyana but I just want to let you know that we don't support your predatory ways. Don't be fooled. Guyana may be politically divided but we are a united people when intruders attempt to step on our pride and heritage."
There is also a lively debate on the discussion board with not all the contributors against a takeover.
While one writer says the culprits are "super rich Guyanese....trying to wrestle the reigns of control of Guyana's only public and truly indigenous company," others note that "This is now a regulated free market economy and there is little or nothing that can be done to stop it. The only way to prevent a takeover from occurring (assuming the price is right) is for the gov't to rapidly enact anti-trust legislation, as this would create a market monopoly of beer. That simply will not happen....This is business, and Guyana must now learn to adjust to the facts of business as they have in every other country in the world."
Another writes, "Banks DIH was always ripe for a take-over, I'm just surprised it took this long. Ansa McAl will only have to divest itself of USD$28 million to get control, not at all an unreasonable sum for a company like Ansa."
Another comment states, "It's hard to understand why some people would oppose this "takeover" in the first place...it is the first "big" foreign takeover of a local company, and everyone thinking of investing in Guyana would probably be following the proceedings closely, to see how smoothly it goes.
Seems like this takeover would be a win-win situation for Guyana, by opening up another channel for foreign investment, business practices and probably technology into Guyana.
Why would anyone be opposed to that? The nay-sayers have merely called for opposition to the takeover. They have not given reasons for opposing, except vague references to national sentiment. It would be interesting to hear their reasons ... if there are any ...
But another writer replies "You are assuming that Guyanese would be better off with such a takeover, and who knows .... don't. None of us do.
The fact of the matter is that history has shown, time and time again, that outside investors do not have the same interests at heart as would local owners who actually live and invest their lives in the place. Sure, this time it could be different, but if one were to speculate, the tendency would be to assume that the profits would not be in the best interests of Guyanese."
One contributor sees a bigger threat: "The Trinis have a head start, but it's going to be the Brazilians that will do for us what the USA has done for Canada. It is inevitable, the money to undertake huge GDP influencing projects here locally is simply not there..."
"But where will the bulk of the financial benefit end up?" asks a contributor. "Right now, with Banks DIH, it ends up in Guyana. It is not as if Banks is in trouble or on the verge of bankruptcy and that any infusion of foreign capital would be better that being out of business."
Another offers this: "Maybe if some of us had the strain of building something from scratch and then when it was complete someone came to take it over or tried to, we would understand the position of Banks DIH... To come into one's backyard and try to raid what has been developed by hard work and dedication over the years is unacceptable."