Government should not compete with the private sector

Government should not compete with the private sector – Granger

Feb 04, 2014 News

“It is my view that much of the development of this country has to be done by the private sector,” said Leader of the opposition coalition, A Partnership of National Unity (APNU) David Granger.

Leader of APNU
David Granger

Granger was at the time commenting on the statements made by the Central Executive Officer (CEO) of Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) Radha Krishna Sharma when he articulated in a previous Kaieteur News article that Government has no business in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Sector.
Rather, it is an area that should be spearheaded with capital from the private sector, Granger added.
Sharma said that with respect to Government being involved with the ICT sector (by way of its E- Governance project where the government has begun stringing a fiber optic cable from Brazil to Georgetown), that based on the global market and dynamics of the industry and the success rate with respect to Government’s engagement in the private sector it can be “unequivocally” stated that ICT sector should be “spearheaded by private capital.”
The company said that Guyana has lost four years since its initial request to facilitate 3G/4G technology in the country.
“To this end, we intend to intensify our efforts in discussions with the government to allow for this, which is an everyday usage in other Caribbean territories” Sharma said.
This particular issue has been a sensitive one. Currently, a number of companies, including Global Technology and Quark Communications, have been earmarked for telecoms license, once the new laws are passed. Both companies have linkages to Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, a close friend of former President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Other countries, because of how lucrative the telecommunication business is, have been moving to ensure that they receive big bucks for the licenses.
Granger said that APNU believes that the regulatory environment must be preserved. “We must make the country safe for business persons for investors, for ordinary citizens. We do not feel its government’s job to compete with the private sector.”
He said that there are certain things that the government must do such as provide security, and provide infrastructure, “the government must provide certain public services such as health and education but once you get beyond that and start to compete in profit making enterprises, like running newspapers and running gas stations we feel the government should pull out.
“I made this statement three years ago about GuySuco [Guyana Sugar Corporation] and I was seriously criticized because I said the government has no place growing sugar, that the government should provide an environment within which citizens could function; go about their business and set up enterprises” said the APNU Leader.
Granger said that the government has a lot of work to do to provide public services and should stick to defense, security, infrastructure, education and health and stay out of the ICT sector.
The opposition coalition leader contended that the government should be a facilitator by providing ICT laboratories in schools.
He said that the government could produce a large class of people who are literate and competent in various techniques and technologies “but I think the government has gone beyond that now and has started to become a competitor and I feel that is dangerous because the government is very powerful and it can use the weight of the state to secure advantages over its competitors, that’s one of the reasons why they should come out of the traditional media such as Chronicle and GINA [Government Information Agency]” said Granger.