The promises in a budget are many

Jan 31, 2016 Features / Columnists, My Column

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When I was younger the budget presentation always brought a halt to activities, be they in the office, the streets or the home. People always sat glued to their radio to hear the various pronouncements. I remember the time when Forbes Burnham announced that the minimum wage would be raised to seven dollars a day, one year, then to nine dollars the next and to eleven dollars per day in the third year.
People liked what they heard and true to his word he did pay the nine dollars in the second year. The third year of the presentation caused people to walk with long faces. Burnham did not keep his promise because he said that Guyana was pursuing hydro development and needed the money.
Now that I stop to think, had he succeeded in getting hydro then this country would have been miles ahead of where it is now.
Then there was the time when currency devaluations were part of the budget presentations. There was this crowd outside Public Buildings listening to the debate. It was 1984. I remember it well, because I had bought a freezer from Guyana Stores and the exchange rate was $4 to the United States dollar.
As was the case this year, the budget was early. Then the announcement came. The exchange rate would be $10 to the United States dollar. The current Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo was in Parliament and he immediately broke out the chant, “Ten to one is murder.” People shuddered.
Those who lived on the remittances smiled because they saw themselves getting more cash. They did not bargain for the stores. I remember well, because the freezer that I had bought a few short months earlier for $4,000 suddenly cost $10,000. No one’s salary had jumped to the point that they could expect such an increase. People with money in the bank lost heavily, because their savings had devalued terribly.
Today the exchange rate is about $210 to the United States dollar. In 1992 when the People’s Progressive Party came to power it was $125 to the United States dollar.
There was another budget presentation on Friday, and I must say that this one held out hope to just about everyone. It came at a time when the major export earners are not doing well, but it also came when Guyana is growing. I heard the Finance Minister say that inflation had reversed. This meant that the economy had done better than it did in years.
There will more disposable income because gas prices and kerosene prices have fallen at the pumps. I now expect this to be passed on to the travellers who were always asked to pay more when gas prices went up. The cost of vehicles will also decline because of the slashed excise taxes.
Indeed there are no price controls but it is here that the government, in keeping with its mantra of a better life for all, should insist that the travelling public benefits. The government should also step up the pressure to have some of the money siphoned to foreign bank accounts returned.
I still cannot understand that a man who helped himself to $27.8 million is still out there spending it. Guyana has been promised Canadian help, and this is one case where I expect the help to be forthcoming.
Yet it is not all rosy. I heard Minister Winston Jordan talk about smuggled gold to the amount of some 15,000 ounces per week. That is an awful lot of gold, and one can only imagine what that revenue could do for the country.
When Transparency International reported on how corrupt Guyana is no one smiled. The case of the smuggled gold highlights this fact. Some people employed to protect the borders are simply taking money to turn a blind eye. This is the case in so many other areas, yet all is not lost.
Last week, former Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Khurshid Sattaur, announced that people had approached him to pull Khemraj Ramjattan’s tax file. If this is true, it just goes to show that Sattaur was part of the corruption. Had he not been so identified, no one would have approached him to do such a dastardly act.
I have been thinking this thing through. Most, if not all, of the files are computerized. The hard copies would be locked away in some place to which only a few would have access. To remove that file would take the authorization of a very senior person, most likely the Commissioner-General.
Then the question of photocopying would arise. This would have had to be done after hours or in some private place where there are photocopiers. The staff would know who and where. Sadly, Mr Sattaur is not releasing the information. Board Chairman Rawle Lucas has said that he would most likely not present himself for questioning.
It goes without saying that I believe that no one pulled Ramjattan’s file; that someone is keen to stir up mischief. However, if it did happen, then the contents of the file would be of no interest to anyone in the present government.
Housing is a critical area for human development. Many people owned their own homes during the previous administration and more lined up to do the same. It is now up to the present Housing Ministry to ensure the momentum.
I know what it is to own a home. It is no easy task paying a rent knowing that you are simply paying for something that you could never own. The day I started paying a mortgage I realised what I was getting into. Today I don’t have to worry about a landlord knocking on my door. Nor do I have to worry about someone serving me with a notice to move out to places unknown.
Things are getting better. The society is no longer talking about Government officials taking money for their personal gratification. Sadly, though, there are people who are lamenting that the prosecutions are not forthcoming.

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