Yesterday or 16 years?

Dec 31, 2008 Features / Columnists

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Peter R. Ramsaroop, MBA

INTRODUCTION:

One would think listening to the President at the opening of the Berbice Bridge that it was like yesterday the PPP came into Government.  He talked about the debt they inherited and the state of the economy like they just took over. He may be in a time warp and can’t comprehend that it has been over 16 years since they came into power, so achievements like the Berbice Bridge is a requirement not a gift for us.
The PNC was in power for less time when they too built the Demerara Bridge.  We are pleased though the PPP Government finally completed this project even though hundreds of millions of dollars of our NIS money was used at only a three per cent return while other private investors are receiving 11% to 15% returns.
We all need to keep in mind that the government is put there to serve us, not to give us gifts; it is their sworn duty to ensure that they use our taxpayers’ money wisely. One letter writer in the Chronicle congratulated the President for leaving his nice house to go out and meet the people on Christmas Day. To this letter writer, I say that this is the duty of the president to serve the people and the nice house he lives in is ours not his. I was not aware that he had moved in his nice Ogle house.
He also visited these same areas in 2005 and three years later his visit made no sense, unless he was there to confess to the citizens that his government wasted $1.7B of our tax money with no results in the drainage system.
As we come to the end of 2008, it is time to look ahead to the next decade soon to be upon us.  Are we satisfied that we have a country that we are proud of? Are we satisfied with our personal economics? Are we satisfied with the security and crime situation? Are we satisfied with the management of the drainage system by the government? Are we satisfied with the rate at which projects are completed?
(16 years for the Berbice Bridge, 16 years and counting for the Road to Brazil, for the Deep Water Harbour, for the diversification out of sugar, for the change of our investment code to attract new investors, for a reduction of the burdensome tax system and finally but not least a government that is for all the people not just some.)
Freddie Kissoon, Guyana’s renowned human rights activist, said it best in his column on December 27, last, where the President and Ministers blame everyone else for their faults as in his example of the sugar industry demise, but never look at themselves.
Freddie called it shamelessness.

2008 Government Report Card:

In terms of accountability to the people, the government has a history of a combative relationship. Reports emanating from people outside of the government and ruling party are always criticised as painting a very bad picture of the government with the aim of embarrassing the government and gaining political points.
Only the reports coming out of government officials should be believed. Civil society has no space in this country to get its views heard and most of its prominent members are painted as being anti-government. The government relies on its propaganda machinery to provide reports that are all painting a nice and rosy picture despite evidence to the contrary.
There has been some successes of which as a Guyanese I am extremely proud. And there have been many failures of which I am extremely concerned. Here are my perspectives.
1. A very good starting point for my report card is the budget. The government had promised us a number of deliverables. During the budget debates, they argued that the deliverables are achievable and that the government possessed the capability and resources to deliver on the promises contained.  We do not have a system in place in Parliament to measure real time expenditures therefore it is very difficult to say money went to the projects proposed versus new initiatives such as Carifesta where the government spent $500 million of taxpayers’ money. This, for example, was not part of the budget.  The expenditures of $1.7B on the drainage system with no measurable results must be investigated.
2. One of the major successes has been the settlement of the border dispute with Suriname relating to our offshore territory. The way is now clear for us to exploit the natural resources out there which are ours. We somehow forgot, though, that we have a border dispute with Venezuela too that also needs to be resolved.
3. In the area of health, we have made many successes at some major surgical procedures. The Minister has continued to show the way by introducing innovations. The Minister of Human Services has also made some strides in further securing women’s rights and child protection. The completion of the Berbice Bridge which took sixteen years is a success of the government and its collaboration with the private sector. However, we need more transparency in these activities. These are major achievements, and there are a few smaller ones here and there. But what is alarming is that these successes are individual acts and has no relation to a larger plan which can reverb across the economy.
4. The agriculture sector continues to be a major failure. All across the country, the infrastructure continues to crumble.  The heavy rains have exposed the deficit of ideas in this key sector. In general, losses in agricultural output and incomes are huge and many people are hard hit with losses. Despite the completion of the new factory at Skeldon, there is no good news emanating. There seems to be no getting out of this. The President, in a style which has become his defining legacy, continues to shift the blame to others. He recently threatened to disband the board. The board is packed with PPP hand picks including the party general secretary.  One positive outcome is the supply of electricity to Berbicians; blackouts have significantly reduced.
5. Local government has been a dismal failure. We have had no local government election since 1994 and reforms proposed have been ignored.
6. At the real sector, we continue to experience ‘some macroeconomic stability’. We hear about stable inflation rates and growth in GDP. Dr. Ian McDonald in a stirring commentary on national accounting and real life asked: How can governments, including our own, boast about growth in GDP while the mass of ordinary people feel and know their standard of living is falling?
7. The global economic climate will lead to more hardship, job losses and a holding up of financing for many major and needed projects: Amaila Falls hydroelectric project, the bauxite project with RASUL, and the aluminium plant with the Chinese.
8. We continue to import even our basic consumption needs. Oil prices have fallen from record high levels, however, with OPEC scaling back production, oil prices will likely move upwards in the New Year.
9. Remittances, a major source of support for the majority of Guyanese, have been impacted severely as the recession takes hold in the countries where the Guyanese Diaspora is based.

CONCLUSION:

We must come together in 2009 with a sound economic blueprint that focuses on diversification of our industries and the creation of jobs. Our number one priority for 2009 must be paving the road to Brazil.  Thousands of jobs and new businesses will be established from this 300-mile road and my advice to the President for the New Year is to get on with running the business of the country and concentrate on diversifying the economy versus travelling the world on environmental issues.
“Let’s get our country in order first before negotiating with others.”

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