We must listen to and fulfill the wishes of the people

Apr 15, 2012 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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Excerpt from a presentation by AFC Member of Parliament Cathy Hughes to the National Assembly on April 13, 2012

Mr. Speaker, Honourable members of this noble house I thank you all for the warm welcome you have bestowed upon us new members of the house.
As I stand here today to make my presentation on the 2012 national budget, I reflect on of a sitting of this national assembly just a few weeks ago when a number of women picketed just across from where we are, and I am reminded that whatever we do in this assembly must reflect the wishes and needs of, those women, women in general and the masses of this country.

Our deliberations therefore and what we agree to in this assembly must not only be what we determine is best for the people of this country but must also consider what the people of this country are calling for.
Mr. Speaker, we will not deny that there have been some improvements in Guyana. To do so would make us appear as extreme oppositionists. This is not what I or we in the AFC are about. Rather, we see ourselves as the conscience of the nation and the voice of reason in this honourable house.
Therefore Mr. Speaker, where there are good ideas and plans in the budget, the AFC will support those because we do not believe that any one party has the monopoly on good ideas. And where we feel this budget has failed we will raise our concerns expecting that as parties committed to Guyana and doing what is best for all her citizens we will find the maturity to compromise.
It cannot be disputed that the challenges facing our communities and social services have reached alarming proportions. Domestic violence and child abuse are now daily occurrences and regrettably many in our population are slowly becoming numb to this.
In the 2012 estimates, in the details of subsidies and contributions to local organisations, we see a list of NGOs set to receive allocations.  Several of these organizations provide undisputed support to public service agencies and their positive contributions go undisputed.  Take Help and Shelter, whose name is mentioned in every discussion on support services for victims of domestic violence, and who receives only 10 million in this year’s budget, but the government’s propaganda machinery – the Government Information Agency – receives 111 plus million dollars. The question this forces us to ask is ….is the daily churning out of government propaganda a better use of scarce financial resources than an agency dealing head on, every day, with an unacceptable epidemic that eliminates one of this nation’s most precious resources…our women.
Or for example the meagre $200,000 dollars also listed in the estimates for the David Rose School – a school I am personally acquainted with as far back as the nineteen seventies when one of my sisters who is deaf attended the school. Little has improved over the years and originally a school for the deaf, today the David Rose School is a melting pot for children with various disabilities fighting for a chance to learn, but in an environment of grossly inadequate resources which guarantee they will never reach their true potential. Is this an acceptable allocation for one of few educational facilities dedicated to training and educating persons with disabilities within our communities?
In the estimates we also observe an increase in travel for conferences and official visits, “the globetrotters”, from over 263 million in 2010 to 270 million in 2011 and now we are being asked to approve 285 million in 2012.  If that is not bad enough the estimates highlight a category “other transport, travel and postage” which moved from 564 million to over 941 million in a twelve-month period.
Mr. Speaker, the winds of change blew over this parliament a few short months ago and they must continue. I say again, this budget must reflect want the people of Guyana say they need. We represent them and I say $200,000 for the David Rose School for children with disabilities and 285 million for overseas conferences and trips cannot be considered just. It must change. Behind every child with a disability is a mother fighting hard to understand and cope with the additional challenges. Is this the best we can do, is this the best support Guyana can offer these families.
Guyanese from all walks of life have said they need more financial support to survive, to grow their families…they have said in no uncertain terms that VAT must be reduced, and pensions increased to levels that persons who have served this country will have a little more than bread and water to live on.  This is not a gift, but a right they have earned. For many of them, we have chased their children away as they search for better opportunities, and now they grow old alone in Guyana. We must do better by them.
But examine this more carefully and we see that most of these NGOs will receive in 2012 less than what one man will receive in pension and benefits in one month. Where is the level of care in this? One man getting about three million a month and an NGO that provides for hundreds gets less than one million for the whole year. It is time for the government to stop giving lip service to empowering women and families, and back up their big talks with real action.
Let me give an example so there is no doubt as to the AFC thinking – take two-thirds of the total allocations for former presidents and give it to NGOs taking care of our pensioners, abused women and children. This will not affect macro-economic programmes.
I have heard that some in the government don’t believe that the government has an obligation to give a pension. Let me make it clear – the AFC sees it not only as an obligation but as a moral and religious duty to take care of our elderly, our widows, our orphans and all those less fortunate in our society.
As I said before, it is not for us to determine what is best for the people, but we must listen to and fulfill the wishes of the people. We are servants of the people.

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