Granger’s steady appearance in the Parliament is historic –Nagamootoo

Nov 05, 2016 News

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The steady appearance of President David Granger within the Chambers of Parliament is not only historic but a sure sign of respect for the home of democracy.

This statement was made by Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, as he moved a motion in the National Assembly yesterday for Granger’s most recent speech to be debated. He also called, in his motion, for Members of Parliament to show appreciation for the remarks delivered by the Head of State.
Nagamootoo said that the President in his address on October 13, last, spoke to the challenges facing the government and the plans going forward.
But before delving into some aspects of the President’s address, the First Vice President sought to respond to those critics who have been questioning the President’s regular visits to the House.
Nagamootoo in defence of the Head of State reminded that under the Constitution, the President comprises the parliament of Guyana, hence his appearance.
The Prime Minister recalled that Granger appeared before the House three times in 2015 and then in January, May, and October of this year.
“It must be historic for Guyana to have recorded in the annals of parliamentary proceedings that a sitting President would address Parliament on six different occasions within a period of 17 months,” Nagamootoo expressed.
This statement earned him cheers and applause from his colleagues.
Turning his attention to the content of the President’s remarks, the Prime Minister noted that Granger would periodically bring to the house, updates on the Government’s policies along with his thoughts on issues of national importance. He said that in Granger’s last six speeches, he spoke extensively on issues of national development, unity and sovereignty.

PUBLIC TRUST
Nagamootoo reminded that on the issue of public trust, Granger had said, “The dreams of a ‘good life’ turned into a horrible nightmare at the dawn of the new millennium. The most unforgettable experiences and most frightening evidence of our descent into chaos were the bloody, drug-driven, decade-long ‘Troubles.’ The ‘Troubles’ will be remembered as the darkest hour in our history.”
Granger had said that it was a time of the un-investigated assassination of a Minister; of the investigation into the alleged implication of another Minister in the direction of a ‘death squad’; of the alleged implication of yet another Minister in the acquisition of a computer to track the telephone communication and location of adversaries targeted for assassination.
The Head of State said that it was a time of arbitrary arrests; of disappearances and of torture of young men; of the surge in armed robberies, narco-trafficking and gun-running.
During that first, deadly decade, Granger said that there were 1,317 murders and 7,865 armed robberies.
He said, too, that it was a time of deception and the cynical rejection of £4.9 million United Kingdom Security Sector Reform Action Plan for which a memorandum of understanding was signed in August 2007; of the rejection of recommendations of numerous security reform reports and total disregard for the implementation of the National Drug Strategy Master Plan.
The President said that the evidence of the impact of the man-made criminal crisis is still visible. He said that the damage is most manifest in the demoralization of the public and security services, the erosion of public trust and the lowering of the ‘quality of life.’
The President stated that the grisly security situation was accompanied by a parlous economic situation.
He said, “The undermining of public infrastructure by the encouragement of cronyism led to serious, costly, serial scandals as seen in the construction the Kato Secondary School; the Hope Canal bridge; the river-front revetment at Kumaka, Barabina road and Moruca bridge; Supenaam stelling and the still unusable Ministry of Social Protection building in Georgetown.”
With the aforementioned in mind, Nagamootoo said that these reflections were very significant in the context of speaking to policies for safeguarding Guyana’s future.
Nagamootoo said that a sitting government should not only be judged by what it promised before getting into office but the condition of life upon the assumption of office.
“We can only deliver based on inheritance,” the First Vice President stated.

HUGE DEBT
On the topic of the mountain of debt government inherited, Nagamootoo reminded of some of the pertinent points captured on this subject by the President in his last address.
The President had said that Government entered a depressing financial landscape in May 2015. He said that the economic legacy that this nation inherited was characterized by a lack of strategic planning and whimsical decision-making.
Granger said that the absence of a policy to provide employment opportunities for youth and to reduce extreme poverty and the failure to energise the manufacturing sector weakened the economy.
Significantly, he said that economic mismanagement was accompanied by huge debts for unpaid international obligations and court judgments.
He said, “The gravest financial problem was the bankruptcy of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) which owed $89 billion in debts. Your Government was forced to divert money from economic development and social projects to rescue the ailing corporation with an immediate injection of $12 billion.
“An additional $11 billion had to be provided the next year, 2016, making a total of $23 billion bailout in 18 months.”
The President said that these transfers exclude the servicing of GUYSUCO’s debts in respect of the Skeldon Estate Modernisation Project. He deemed the project to be a monstrous and monumental US$200 million mistake and, probably, Guyana’s single most costly industrial catastrophe of all time.
Additionally, the Head of State pointed out that paddy farmers in the rice industry were not spared the previous administration’s reckless mismanagement.
He said, “The PetroCaribe Fund – used to meet payments to farmers for rice and paddy shipped to Venezuela – contained less than US$1 million in May 2015. Your Government was forced to make available nearly $4 billion immediately so that poor paddy farmers could be paid.”
Granger continued, “Your Government inherited a large number of liabilities, including judgments in excess of US$34 million (or G$7 billion) in favour of NH Elias, in respect of the East Bank Demerara Road; judgment for $1.3 billion in favour of Rudisa Beverages; judgment in favour of Trinidad Cement Limited; settlement for$1.4 billion with B.K. Tiwari on Haags Bosch Project and several other judgments that will cost the State over $1 billion.”
He noted, too, that the Government was also obliged to provide another $5.4 billion bailout the National Insurance Scheme as a consequence of the previous administration’s irresponsible CLICO investment.
In this regard, Nagamootoo said that he supported the President’s statements and approach. He said that again, it is necessary for the nation to see how the economy suffered and how the sugar sector was left in huge debt due to the former regime’s incompetence, political manipulation, bad governance and mismanagement.
He said, “It was necessary to go back and be able to see what the government is currently facing.”
Nagamootoo concluded that the president’s address must be seen in a sense of what Government inherited as against the impact that will have on its pursuit to deliver the good life for all Guyanese.
He stressed, however, that due to the Government’s prudent management of the economy and commitment to good governance, that “good life” is already being realized.

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