Can the new government reduce poverty?

May 24, 2015 Editorial

President David Granger is no stranger to problems, large or small. As the former head of the Guyana Defence Force and leader of the APNU+AFC Coalition, he has faced and has overcome many problems in his time.
But as the Head of State, he faces one of the biggest problems of his life—poverty. How he and his government will tackle this gigantic problem is anyone’s guess but only he knows. With 26 Ministers already appointed by President Granger at an annual cost to the taxpayers of over half billion dollars and with two more to be named, can this government find enough resources to reduce poverty?
The key to the success in reducing poverty in Guyana depends on a collective action involving the government, the people, the private sector, churches, trade unions, and important stakeholders in society, but most important is education. Society will be better off with an educated population.
Since gaining independence in 1966, politicians from every political party have promised to end poverty but none did. And they have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help combat poverty. In fact, the poverty rate in Guyana is higher today than it was ten years ago.
One of the reasons why so many are poor in Guyana is many in the PPP, including Ministers, have used the state resources to enrich themselves, relatives and friends and have become extremely wealthy overnight. That money could have gone to help the people who are struggling.
What seems clear from this inference is that money alone will not, and cannot solve poverty in Guyana or in any society. The sooner those in authority recognize and accept that fact, the better for all now and in the future.
Government intervention by itself over the years has proved incapable of reducing poverty, given the very deep-rooted nature of it in the country. For one reason, too many people, especially the youths are without full-time jobs and therefore are barely surviving. For another reason, the low wages earned by many workers are not enough to pay the bills and put food on the table. Thus the poor are in a dire state in Guyana.
But above all, the fight against poverty has to involve well-targeted groups with specific interventions that are properly coordinated by a central agency. A piecemeal approach to fighting poverty is more likely than not, to lead to vast amount of resources being wasted and the nation cannot afford it.
Those who possess wealth and who still have morals and compassion for their fellow men must find ways to help the poor. Moreover, an all-out attempt must be made by the newly elected David Granger led APNU+AFC Coalition government to arrest this scourge on society. Can they do it? Are they prepared to fulfill their campaign promise by waging a serious fight against poverty?
One approach is for the government to put measures in place to control the prices of essentials such as food, health care products and education. Clearly, this strategy would benefit all sections of society, but it is unlikely to be sufficient to reduce or end poverty.
By the very nature of poverty, the government logically has to take more drastic steps in terms of reducing the value added tax (VAT), lower the tuition fees at UG, increase salaries and old age pensions, reduce transportation cost by lower the price of gasoline and reduce or eliminate the cost of medical supplies, to name a few.
Even though poverty reduction is a rather challenging goal to accomplish, the nation can certainly succeed in the fight against poverty with these measures, as well as by being creative in their plans and approaches and by combining the efforts of everyone in society. This is only one way to halt the perpetual rampage of poverty on the poor in Guyana.

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