The National Development Strategy

Apr 21, 2013 Editorial

Back in December 2005, the National Assembly unanimously approved the motion brought by the PNC/R on the National Development Strategy (NDS). It gave many ordinary citizens a ray of hope that our political elite may at long last be able to work together for the national, rather than only narrow partisan, good.
Seven years later, we are fighting over our budget allocations. Could not the parties work together to implement an updated NDS?
Originally drafted and published in 1996, the NDS was the brainchild of Dr. Cheddi Jagan, who solicited and received substantial assistance from the Carter Centre. Even though there was broad societal collaboration in the formulation of the document, the collaboration was not formalised and structured to ensure control of the process by civil society and resulted in the refusal of the PNC/R to accept it as a “national” strategy.
Subsequently, in 1998 the Carter Centre persuaded the Government to accept the establishment of a National Development Strategy Committee (NDSC) which comprised individuals drawn from a broader civil society pool and who were promised total control over the final document. The Committee immediately began its work, which was not simply to update the original draft but to instil into the document a coherent, holistic vision and philosophy that would be acceptable to all Guyanese. Their work was completed by 2001.
The plan was to have the completed document discussed in Cabinet and then be submitted, unaltered, to the National Assembly. Unfortunately, politics overtook the need for a national consensus and the NDS remained in limbo, languishing in the purgatory of being constantly invoked by both the Government and the Opposition, but never brought into the light of Parliament for scrutiny and approval. Until, of course the aforementioned motion by the PNC/R.
In addition to the process of its formulation and its reintroduction, the new NDS also has substantive reasons for receiving our attention. The document declares: “It cannot be too strongly emphasised that the NDS is not an economic development plan in the conventional sense of the term.” Most innovatively, the NDS introduced new chapters on “Governance” and the “Guyanese Family”, which we believe go to the heart of what needs to be addressed before Guyana can ever really “develop”.
The NDS goes on to say, “This NDS is put forward by Guyanese civil society both as a compass and as a framework for realising our potential and for releasing our society and economy from the shackles which now so decisively restrain us. It seeks to define our most urgent priorities and, in every area, clearly lays down concrete policy reforms and actions. It is the product of many of us: Guyanese of all races and of diverse professions. To implement it and to realise the dream it embodies would require the collaboration of the entire nation.”
We were given an opportunity for “the collaboration of the entire nation” but we lost it in 2001 and 2005. We all know what happened post-2001 and we do not need a hardening of antagonism that might further our polarisation. If we, the people, get involved in fine-tuning this plan for Guyana, perchance we can convince our politicians that we have more to gain by working together than in working at cross purposes.
The NDS was sent to a Special Select Committee mandated to solicit consultations with the private sector and civil society. This meant all of us. Eventually the revised NDS was supposed to be submitted to the House for adoption. Under the new dispensation, the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Economic Affairs, made up of both the Government and Opposition members, would monitor the Executive on its implementation of the Strategy. But it became lost somewhere.
If the NDS is revived by civil society at this time maybe the politicians will see that there is very little that separates them. We cannot have this continuous bickering over budget allocations which has left the country’s developmental drive up in the air.
The budget has become an occasion simply to score political points. We have to do better.

Latest News

The National Development Strategy

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Thomas’ hat-trick inspires D.C Caesar Fox 10-5 victory, as Annai...

Stabroek Ballers, Sparta Boss, Bent Street...

West Indies Falter in Disheartening Series Loss...

Trophy Stall hands over trophies for Kennard...

Omari Glasgow, carrying the hopes and dreams of a...

GCF eyeing growth across other regions in 2025...

Features/Columnists

The stakes are high in Guyana’s democracy

Let the asylum seekers go: a first step for Venezuela to rebuild relations in the Americas

A leader undresses in public

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

The National Development Strategy

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]