After two years, APNU+AFC’s balance sheet is a poor one

May 16, 2017 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
Guyana belongs to all Guyanese; it is time the government understands this. With a thud and without any fanfare, the 2nd anniversary of the relatively new administration passed unceremoniously. No doubt at the halfway mark of its tenure, the Government would have liked to be more boisterous about their accomplishments. But aside from a few painted buildings and some refurbished roads, there is not much to shout about. Even the Le Repentir Cemetery has become overrun with bush, again.
They are trying to tout their tax exemptions and the reduced VAT but the cat was let out of the bag when Moses Nagamootoo stated publically that the addition of VAT to the price for education is one of the ways the Government is seeking to take back what they had given to the Guyanese citizens. The lowering of the domestic electricity was squashed when they added VAT on the electricity and water of business owners and operators. That additional VAT has caused the prices of goods and services to be increase.
In classic give-and-take style, they increased the old age pension from 12,000 to 19,000 and then removed the subvention on electricity and they have installed water meters, even on the homes of the elderly. So that any gains that were expected from the increase in pension, was nullified by the fact that the seniors now have to pay for their water and light. The promised collective bargaining was never realized as the government still insists that they will determine the rate at which salaries and benefits should be increased for public servants. They are still refusing to give in to the demands of the GTU and the PSU.
The rice farmers, many of whom came over from the PPP/C and voted for the Coalition, are vowing to jump ship again because of failed promises made to them prior to the elections in 2016. The housing sector has virtually stagnated, with a stubborn list of over 25,000 applicants awaiting land distribution. Additionally, the promise of a reduction on the cost for house lots was only realized for a brief period during the Jubilee anniversary celebrations. Aside from that, the price for a piece of land for the ordinary man remains at the exorbitant cost that was arbitrarily arrived at during the vicious PPP era.
The government touts that they have restored billions from phantom accounts; that gold excavation is significantly up; that they have stopped massive corruption and the stealing of billions of dollars, yet they continue to find new ways to tax the life out of the Guyanese citizens, while they claim the treasury is broke. Where are all the billions going?!
The parallel cry of the government is that the Guyana economy seems to be doing badly because under the PPP, the country was moving along because it was propped up by the drug trade and drug lords who were pumping their loot into the local market. However, under this new administration, not a single drug lord has been arrested and charged with acquiring property or lands by illegal means. Also, the promise to charge the PPP leaders with fraud and embezzlement fell flat, with the charges turning out to be mere accusations of fraudulently acquiring law library books and obtaining house lots below market prices.
There has been no constitutional reform; no significant reduction in crime; no sustained involvement of the Diaspora; no code of ethics for the ministers and public figures; no public disclosure of the assets of ministers; no resolution to the GT&T shares, no reduction to the constant brain drain; no plans for displaced sugar workers; no strategic plan for agriculture; etc. The United Republican Party (URP) has noted these and several other broken promises that this Coalition has made to the people.
As the government heads into their last lap, all their hopes seem centered on the possibility of the oil wealth. It is believed that even if the oil does not begin to flow before the next elections, the government will take a huge loan from the oil companies, to help them buy the election. That would not be an advisable move, as it will saddle generations to come with an enormous debt.
What are needed now are investments in our local capital. Remove the red tape and allow businesses to move into the country more freely. Invest heavily in agriculture and market Guyana as the bread basket of the Caribbean. Take a proactive stance on crime. Penalize heavily the violators of traffic laws, especially speeding and dangerous driving. To reduce the brain drain, offer incentives like duty free concessions, or reduced duties, or attractive salaries to our tertiary educated graduates.
There is a lot of reinventing of the wheel. It is time the government understands that Guyana belongs to all Guyanese and they must begin to involve other persons who might not necessarily share their political ideology but who are none the less patriotic. If the next two years find us at a similar place as the last two years, Guyanese will be the worse for it.
Dr. Vishnu Bandhu

---

---