THE QUESTIONS THE BUDGET DEBATE MUST ANSWER

Feb 13, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The Budget itself is a technical document detailing the sources of government revenue and expenditure for the coming year. The Budget speech is a political presentation which should always aim at informing the average citizen as to what the Budget means for him or her.
One of the most strident criticisms made of the 2010 Budget since its presentation last Monday, and a criticism which can be made of almost all of the Budget speeches since 1997, has been the inability of the citizenry to determine just what the Budget has in store for them.
Budget 2010, we are told, is the biggest yet, in excess of 140 billion dollars. But what does this mean for the average citizen and how much is the average man going to benefit from this year’s Budget? How are these billions going to create jobs for the many persons within our society, many of whom do not have the requisite skills to hold down a remunerative rewarding job? How is the Budget going to bring down the cost of electricity which is a serious constraint to both householders and private enterprise? How are the billions of taxpayers’ dollars that are used to float the power company, helping to reduce the in excess of thirty per cent losses that take place each year?
How are the billions that are being invested in the water sector helping those who are already receiving water but only for a few hours each day and at a low pressure? Will these millions enable Guyanese to finally rid themselves of the water vats that have to be used to store water? Or will it be used simply for increasing access, as is so often boasted?
How will the three thousand-odd house lots to be distributed this year be managed? What about the poor man at the bottom of the line waiting for his turn to receive his lot? What guarantees are going to be had that when his turn comes for a house lot, he does not have to learn that the PPP has applied for three house lots in one of the housing schemes and thus he will have to wait again until more lots are available?
We are again told about the billions of dollars for the health sector? Now hopefully there will be no Cabinet or Tender Board waivers this year in relation to the procurement of medicine. However, the average man wants to know who will these millions ensure that he is healthier and that when he goes for treatment that he receives the best care that can be had?
How can the average citizen be sure that when he goes into a ward that his family will not have to come to bathe him and attend to his needs? How do these billions ensure that our nurses who are migrating at a fantastic rate are encouraged to stay and serve in the public health system? In short how are nurses going to benefit from the Budget?
Millions are going to be spent on a school feeding programme but what about the poor person who has to suffer the humiliation of his or her child receiving a meal in school but at home get nothing to eat?
How do the billions that are going into education this year stop the need for extra lessons in the system because there is a shortage of good teachers throughout the country? How are teachers going to benefit from this Budget and also, like the nurses, be encouraged to stay in Guyana rather than migrate for higher salaries?
How is the Budget going to increase local food production and reduce food prices so that those who are barely getting by on their incomes can have some relief? How is the Budget going to reduce the high cost of home construction and improvements?
If there is any area where citizens need greater improvement, it is in the security sector? Crime may have been reduced but Guyanese still do not feel safe and are having to invest far too much in personal security systems. Given the billions that are being spent each year to finance the security sector, Guyanese should be able to sleep with their doors open. But we know this cannot be because crime is still high in Guyana and is one of the major problems facing the society.
So apart from this borrowed notion of intelligence driven crime prevention, what is there for the average cop in this Budget that would allow him to resist the temptation, that is faced by so many of his colleagues, of having to take a bribe?
These are the questions which must be answered during this Budget debate because they are central to the concerns of the average citizen who, while he or she may not have had much say in the compilation of the estimates of expenditure and revenue, is supposed to the object of what the Budget proposes to achieve.

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THE QUESTIONS THE BUDGET DEBATE MUST ANSWER

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