Debate issues, not personalities

Apr 02, 2013 Editorial

The budget debates begin today. The nation would be regaled by the positives and the negatives, depending on who is making the presentation. What is known is that the vast majority of Guyanese are not even sure what the budget offers. They know that the old age pension has been hiked; they know that senior citizens would get some help with their electricity bills; they know that they are already being helped with their water bills.
The budget talks about a higher ceiling for property tax and a lower income tax rate which would translate into a slightly higher take home pay. But many people never took time to study the implications of the budget so that these positive measures almost passed unnoticed.
When some of these measures were explained all the people wanted to know is when they would actually begin to see a change in their pockets. And that is the problem in Guyana. The people are so impecunious that all they can think of is more money.
The parliamentary opposition is going to make much of this fact. It is going to say that more could be done for the people without taking into consideration the fact of inflation. There are no price controls so when the people begin to get more the merchants will also seek that bit more. Prices would go up and the people are going to be no better off.
For there to be meaningful increases in earnings there must be legislation that would monitor the behaviour of the business community. At present we are content to say that competition would force prices down, that businesses would be pressured to match the prices of the lower charging entity.
However, we do know that more often than not, greed is the driving force. It is not unheard of for the business community to get together to charge a minimum and a maximum price on articles. What is little known is the influx of substandard goods that appear to be genuine articles.
Not so long ago a consumer took shots at some Made in China goods that barely survived the first use. Other importers foist similarly inferior goods on the public and charge enough to give them a 100 per cent return. There should be a law that could see no one making more than 15 per cent. After all, it is the government that licenses these people.
On the import side, there is the Guyana National Bureau of Standards which is supposed to rule on the quality of the imports but one would suppose that manpower is a factor. Just recently, there were reports of a leading control agency condoning corrupt practices. And corruption is widespread so the buying public is not really protected. This should be a major topic when the debate starts.
The debate should also concentrate on value for money. Governments often have an idea of what development should be. More recently there have not been consultations prior to the execution of projects. This is because the government insists on being the representative of the people. It argues that by the power of the vote it has carte blanche.
What we have found is that the people have seen their money go down the drain on projects that come up short. A classic case is the Skeldon sugar factory. People have gone to jail in some countries for failed projects that waste taxpayers’ money.
It might be a good thing for the opposition to press for legislation that would make government officials accountability. Accountability has not been a strong point in national life and because of this while there has been talk there has been no action.
It would be interesting to see whether there would be productive debates and a concentration on issues rather than on personalities. Politicians can be changed and the policy will still remain. In this light, announcements that the parliamentary opposition would go after Rohee will be nothing but a waste of time and the taxpayers’ money.
The focus should be on the budget and not on personalities. Anything else would be counterproductive and of no use to the society.

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Debate issues, not personalities

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