Latest update January 20th, 2025 4:00 AM
AFC justifies role in 2014 ‘Budget cuts’
The Alliance For Change (AFC) says that its action in Parliament when it joined in cutting several Budgetary allocations in the 2014 budget is justifiable further it “re-emphasises that it would not sell or surrender its mandate to protect the public purse.”
“The minority PPP/C administration cut its own 2014 Budget by $37.4 billion after the combined Opposition signaled non-approval of allocations for several vexed projects, including a hydro scheme, specialty hospital, new international airport, a questionable scheme for Amerindian communities and subsidies for state-run news outlets.”
AFC Leader
Khemraj Ramjattan
The AFC, by way of the public missive yesterday, said that with its seven seats in the National Assembly, it proposed reconsideration of the controversial allocations in tri-partite talks with government and the opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
“These were scuttled after the first round was hosted by Speaker Raphael Trotman but not before the combined opposition signaled to Government, its support for a further $6B subsidy for the sugar industry in the interest of the welfare of the depressed workers.”
According to the party, subsequent to a positive vote on the sugar bailout, Government shamelessly refused to engage the Opposition in further talks “but hired protesters and staged the protests outside Parliament Buildings, initially by a handful of sugar workers who were promised two days’ pay and later, by Amerindians some 100 of whom were flown from interior locations.”
The AFC says that it is re-assured that the minority government has seen the full measure of the combined Opposition, “that it would no longer be allowed to get away with arbitrary spending of the people’s monies, and lack of accountability thereof.”
On Wednesday last the PPP/C Government was blocked from grabbing over $16B for the aborted $200B Amaila Falls Hydro Project.
“AFC repeated that any further funding would be conditional to the release by government of a technical due diligence evaluation of the project…The hydro project was touted as a Low Carbon Development project for which Guyana has already put in equity to fund a road, but there has been no inflow from the so-called Norway LCDS Fund for the hydro project.”
According to the party, though it had and continues to demand the due diligence disclosure, it gave government partial support to raise the debt ceiling to allow the Government to cover loans as payment for purchase of power from the hydro scheme, upon its completion.
“But investors were not impressed and wanted all three parliamentary parties to under-write the project…The investors have since walked from the hydro project which took a huge credibility hit when photos revealed that the falls that would channel water for hydro generation had dried up.”
According to the party, it feels that the government is to be wholly and solely blamed for irresponsibility and recklessness in not de-linking the controversial projects from other worthwhile allocations such as rehabilitation of interior airstrips, student loans, presidential guards, land titling, basic needs projects, etc., which the AFC support, and would approve when the government returns them to the National Assembly for supplementary vote, as it has done on previous occasions.”
The party maintains that the PPP/C has exploited the welfare of our people for petty propaganda purposes and cheap electioneering stunts.
“The AFC will not be intimidated by these antics, and even by the veiled bluff that the PPP/C would call fresh elections.”
The AFC noted that before the “Chang Ruling”, the party could have proposed, where it suspected abuse of funds, a lower amount for a specific line item in a financial programme that contained several projects.
“No such proposal to reduce an item could be made this year, and it was open to the Government to reduce or withdraw the allocation, as it could with the Amaila $16B and proceed with others projects which were not opposed…But it bluntly refused to budge and gleefully set the projects up for chopping, as these could fuel the PPP’s vulgar and hostile propaganda blurps against the combined opposition.”
The party insists that in spite of the ongoing propaganda blitz and misuse of taxpayers’ money by the PPP/C to fund mobilization, “the AFC will continue to safeguard the welfare of the Guyanese people, and AFC trusts in the better judgment of our people.”
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