The PNCR finds fault where there is none

Nov 19, 2008 Peeping Tom

It is amazing how people simply wish evil on others when many of them profess to be good, faithful religionists. Sometimes such feelings come about because of envy but more often than not the reason for the evil wish is rooted in spite. Sometimes the wish is based on man’s basic cruel nature.
The world is hearing about the global financial crisis that is hurting so many economies and only those with a wash of money are predicting a return to normalcy. Some are even asking for greater expenditure. The word is that you have to spend money to make money.
Back in Guyana, the effects of the global problems have been hardly felt, simply because the money in the public treasury has not been invested in those institutions that have collapsed. But there is the talk about remittances being slashed.
Some economists placed remittances at a whopping US$436 million, which translates into more than one-third of the national economy. There were times when people said that Guyana was a barrel economy; that it depended on financial inflows from the Diaspora to provide a semblance of economic gains in the country.
When asked about this, President Bharrat Jagdeo actually said that remittances might be much less because the economists who came up with the figure could not explain the formula they used. The money exchange services, by way of the taxes they pay, could provide a fairly accurate figure and none of them has presented figures that suggest anything near that sum.
Last week, they all said that they had noticed a slowdown in the flow of remittances to Guyana which would suggest that Guyanese in the Diaspora are resilient people and that they have not severed their roots to this country.
They still talk about returning home and many of them are repairing and building homes here with money they earn overseas.
However, the People’s National Congress Reform told reporters that there has been a drop in remittances and that this drop is measured at 35 per cent. How the party calculated any drop has not been stated because the reporters simply did not ask, and of course, the party did not see the need to offer an explanation.
The PNC could have said that the drop in remittances was fifty per cent and got away with it because no one sought to determine the calculation that allowed for an arrival at the figure.
It was the same when the United States of America issued a statement that proclaimed that drugs accounted for more than half of the economy.
There was no figure to explain the contention, although by virtue of arrests and major drug busts of cocaine and marijuana shipped out of Guyana, it became common knowledge that Guyana was a transshipment point for drugs destined for North America.
Many of the major players have been arrested and even the United States is reporting that the flow of drugs from Guyana has been significantly reduced. In Guyana there have been a number of busts and arrests because of the enhanced security measures introduced at the main airport and at the various shipping ports.
The local economy has been dependent on its exports which have been increasing over the years, despite the price cuts by the European Union for sugar exports and the recent Economic Partnership Agreement, which will see Guyana losing money but which will also spur the country to improve productivity in a number of areas.
And the critics should see that despite all the talk there has been no cutback in Government spending. Government is spending money to maintain infrastructure; to improve certain sections of the social sector such as water and electricity and education; and continuing its programme of prudent economic management.
No one can blame the government for shepherding this country which has lost critical skills and no one can fault the government. The result is that there is a lot of nitpicking with people seeking to create issues where none exists.
Guyanese are living better although they are not among the richest in the world but they are surely among the most enterprising, and the government must be given full credit.

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The PNCR finds fault where there is none

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