‘Mauby water’ and spiked hands greet Irfaan Ali’s Budget contribution

Feb 21, 2009 News

By Neil Marks

His overreaching gestures and political platitudes threatened to overshadow his plausible arguments for job creation in the housing sector and provision of potable water to unserved communities, but Minister Irfaan Ali had his house in order and his energy flowing when he presented arguments in support of the 2009 National Budget Thursday evening.

Chuckles of “mauby water” came from the opposition side of the National Assembly when he argued that it costs more for a glass of mauby than for a day’s supply of water to unmetered customers, but that did not drain his spirited presentation. The “mauby water” was a reference to the untreated “rusty” water that some Guyanese get through their taps.

In between calls for the Opposition to take off the spike from their hands so that the political divide can “clap” in a real spirit of cooperation, and sounding victory already for the ruling PPP/C at the next general elections in two years, Ali bit by bit sought to establish that the spending for the Housing and Water Ministry he controls is justified and will aid the economy.

In the housing sector, for example, Ali suggested that, with at least 1,500 new homes slated to be constructed this year, some 7,500 temporary jobs would be created, since it could take at least five persons to work on one house.

Ali also suggested that, if 1,000 new loans were given to low-income earners at the $3M ceiling offered by the New Building Society, it would mean spending in the economy of at least $300M.

“We are going to walk away with a (election 2011) victory,” he injected at this point, allowing for his colleagues to thump their desks in support.

Ali said that some 40,000 applications for house lots are being processed. To meet this demand, he said that his Ministry will be looking to “consolidate” the existing housing schemes and expand some. In explanation, he said that the Ministry will this year conduct an audit of all the housing schemes to determine the lots that are not occupied for various reasons, and also to arrest other deficiencies, such as cases where one person has more than one house lot.

The Minister said that if one were to measure the level of infrastructure development in the schemes, such as roads and drainage, the cost for development of a single house lot would amount to $400,000.

He said that success in the government’s housing drive can be seen in the fact that currently the Ministry has relaxed the policy to grant house lots only to those with children, opening the opportunity for single persons to acquire land.

“Isn’t this development? Isn’t this progress?”

He said new lands are being identified on the coast and in the hinterland region to meet demands.

He rollicked in the “joy” he said comes from looking into the eyes of new landowners who express their joy at having ownership of a piece of land.

The overall budget for the housing sector this year is $1.6B. Among the plans ventilated in the budget is for the allocation of 2,000 house lots and the distribution of 2,500 land titles.

To make his case for development in the water sector, Ali preferred to say that the glass was “half full” as he alluded to plans for this year. The budget projects total spending of $3.8B for various initiatives in this sector.

Among these plans, he said, is the establishment of 18 water projects powered by solar energy and, to add colour to his presentation, he celebrated the fact that he could pronounce the names of the villages correctly – including Waramuri (pronounced Warah-moo-ri) – thanks to training from the former Minister of Local Government Harripersaud Nokta, who is revered for his knowledge of interior Amerindian communities.

Of course the thumps came again from his colleagues, and the opposition side of the House seemed to be enjoying it too.

He spent time trumping up the fact that, despite a large electricity bill for producing water (61 percent of the total operating cost of Guyana Water Incorporated) Guyanese still pay the lowest water rate (remember the mauby argument?), and yet it costs less to produce water here than it does in the British Virgin Islands or the Cayman Islands.

While tossing his calculations, Ali was still not going to let “untruths” peddled by the main opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) pass as water under the bridge. He took up the case of that party’s Region Three Parliamentarian, Mervyn Williams, who sought to downplay progress in the water sector in that region.

The Minister argued this was far from the truth.

To make his point solid, Ali whipped out a letter from the Hague/Blankenburg Neighbourhood Democratic Council (yes, in Williams’ Region Three) expressing thanks for the “satisfactory” provision of “clean potable water.”

When Oppostion Leader Mr Robert Corbin reined him in for violating the standing orders in not offering the date and the name of the author of the letter, Ali was not to be defeated and was ready with the details – February 18, 2009, signed by George Nedd, the chairman of the NDC.

He was not too hesitant in pointing out that the NDC in which this praise came is “controlled” by the PNCR.

He had other details to provide, too – including specifics such as the construction of two new wells to provide water to 12,000 households, and the completion of the Central Ruimveldt and Sophia Water Treatment Plants to benefit 18,000 persons within Georgetown – even if he had cause to connect these to elections campaign language and posture.