Food prices motion toothless - PNCR

Food prices motion toothless – PNCR

Jun 27, 2008 News

…not enough was and is being done

Members of Parliament were yesterday greeted with a picketing exercise by supporters of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) as the House was about to debate a Government motion related to the rising food prices.
The motion that was proposed by Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud sought to have the National Assembly support the interventions by the government to stem the adverse effects of the phenomena such as the Ministerial committee to monitor the situation and make recommendations on action needed to cushion the impact of the spiraling food prices.
Among some of the other interventions are the zero ratings of some food items as well as assistance to vulnerable groups.
He also drew reference to the ongoing ‘Grow More’ campaign which to date has seen the distribution of seeds to some 31,000 households nationwide. By year end there will be an additional 18,000 acres of arable land available for food production.
According to Persaud, following the recently-held Agriculture Investment Forum several agricultural proposals are actively being pursued and these would place in the hands of young people agri-tools rather than guns.
He added that the motion was aimed at having a structured mechanism in place, given that the streets were not the place to have decisions of this nature made.
Persaud was referring to the regular street protests that have at times been attributed to the rising cost of food among others.
He added that what is even more commendable is the fact that several international institutions were currently analysing Guyana’s interventions to alleviate the impact to skyrocketing food prices with a view to implement the same measures in their countries.
He also chastised the PNCR for that party’s role in downplaying the role that global factors have played on the rise in prices.
The Alliance for Change (AFC), in efforts to make the motion a lot more meaningful, successfully managed to include the setting up of a Parliamentary Select Committee to complement the inter-Ministerial committee.
The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) told the National Assembly that with the exception of the AFC clause to have the select committee established, the resolved clauses were toothless in that they only sought to recognise actions and not mandate the implementation of anything concrete.
According to the Shadow Finance Minister for the PNCR, Winston Murray, his party did recognise the role that global factors played in the increased prices but noted that the government’s response was minuscule and not enough the tackle the problem.
“When you take account of the magnitude of the problem, the government’s response is inadequate.”
He went on to say that if Guyana had done like some other countries and embarked on more stringent agriculture programmes in the past then the economy would now be reaping the benefits.
He also told the National Assembly that Guyana has long been recognised as a country that could play a significant role in bringing food security to the region. “What have you been doing to make this a reality during the last 15 years? Why were we not placed in a position where we could have maximised the opportunity?”
The Shadow Finance Minister proposed on behalf of his party that the government adopt a National Agricultural Development Programme.
He also called for the involvement of a multi stakeholder forum to assist in tackling the issue of spiraling food prices.
He questioned the nature of waiting for investors and suggested that Go-Invest should be renamed to Come-Invest given that the body was not actively pursuing investors to come to Guyana and invest.
He noted that countries around the world were actively pursuing investors and that was the kind of proactive stance that was necessary in Guyana.
“More could and should be done.”