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2015 Budget not the PPP’s

Aug 13, 2015 News

– Jagdeo’s accusations as “the rants of an individual” – Harmon
By Kiana Wilburg
When it comes to the 2015 Budget, former President Bharrat Jagdeo is claiming that the coalition government stole the PPP’s thunder. At a recent press conference, Jagdeo insisted that most of the projects and plans within the APNU+AFC’s maiden budget actually belong to his party.
But Minister of State Joseph Harmon rubbished Jagdeo’s claim as the mere “rant of an individual.” He said that it does not necessarily reflect the views of the PPP/C. More importantly, he said that in no way is the 2015 budget which was presented by Finance Minster Winston Jordan on Monday, a product of the PPP’s vision for Guyana.
Harmon made this declaration during a press conference which was held at the Office of the Presidency yesterday. He was asked to respond to the accusation by Jagdeo that the salary increases offered to public servants by the government were not significant and that the government’s budget was heavily injected with PPP projects.
Harmon said, “The government does not recognize him (Jagdeo) as being Opposition Leader as yet until he takes an oath in the National Assembly. He is just elected by the members…so what we are actually seeing in the media are what I call the rants of an individual who I am not quite sure represents the total views of the PPP, and therefore we will respond in due course once we recognize that these are the views of the PPP/C.”
Harmon added, “What Mr. Jordan laid out was our 2020 vision, and this is what the APNU +AFC administration will do in the next five years. Certainly, the PPP could not have had such a vision because their term in office was a three-year term and what would have happened is that there were some projects that would have been in the pipeline and would have been negotiated.”
The Minister said that a responsible government does not subscribe to the notion of reinventing the wheel. He reminded that the Minister of Finance had made it very clear that some of the ideas and projects outlined in the 2015 budget were already there in the records at the Finance Ministry.
Harmon emphasized that these ideas and projects did not belong to the PPP/C or Jagdeo. He explained that those projects which were developed were there as a result of consultations with persons who are still working with the state.
“This is not the PPP’s budget. This could never be the PPP’s budget. The whole focus of it, the fact that it is people-oriented and speaks to having a green economy shows that it is not a PPP budget,” Harmon expressed.
In support of his point, Minister of Tourism Catherine Hughes said that it is the responsibility of any government to review and decide what is important and beneficial to the nation and in that vein, move forward with such programmes.
“We can create havoc in an economy if we start to suggest that because a policy was introduced by any one administration then it must be discontinued by the next. We are working in the best interest of this country,” Hughes added.
The Tourism Minister emphasized, too, that it is important to remember that Jagdeo had the same opportunity to increase the Old Age Pension to $17,000 and the minimum wage to $50, 000 if he so desired.
“So the question should be why he didn’t do this when he had the opportunity?” the Minister questioned.

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