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You are guilty of the corruption you accused us of
– Nandlall tells Govt.
Former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, is suggesting that the Coalition government is guilty of the same corruption of which it once accused the former PPPC Government.
Addressing the Speaker of the House, Dr. Barton Scotland, Nandlall said on Thursday that the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, owes it to the people of Guyana to explain how the nation have descended to such a low economic ebb, so quickly.
“After all, he inherited a vibrant and robust economy, growing at an average rate of 4 percent) per annum for over a decade.”
Further, Nandlall said that the government has reaped a windfall of revenue, which was up till now not available.
Nandlall reminded the house that while in opposition, the Alliance For Change (AFC) and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) “used to say that $300B per year under the PPP Government was lost to corruption. Well unless they are stealing that money, after two and a half years they ought to have saved over $750B.”
Nandlall cynically questioned, “Where has this money gone?” He then posited, “This money alone could have kept all the sugar workers on their job and paid every public sector employee a 50 percent increase in salaries.”
That example did not go down well with those on the government’s side. The MP nevertheless moved to another example.
He noted that it is common knowledge that one of Guyana’s largest imports is fuel. Nandlall said that when the PPP/C demitted office, the price for fuel on the world market was about US$120 per barrel. In 2016, it dropped as low as $29 US dollars per barrel and is stabilising in 2017 at about $57 US dollars per barrel. “Here again the Government would have saved several billion dollars annually. Where has all this money gone?”
Member of Parliament, Anil Nandlall
Nandlall also said that the government must have been able to save billions with the scrapping of certain social projects. “This Government scrapped the $10,000 cash grant programme for children in public schools and removed subsidies from pensioners light and water bills, raking in another several billions, annually. Where has all this money gone?”
Nandlall said that despite all the lump sums the government secured, it still imposed over 200 new tax measures which would have netted another several billion dollars in revenue annually. “Again, where has all this money gone?”
“I can offer two reasons. Firstly, the cost of Government has gone up tenfold and secondly, corruption and procurement fraud are as high as they have ever been in this country. That is why our workers cannot get a proper increase in salaries. That is why the sugar industry is closing. That is why we cannot offer any incentive to any new investment and we can offer no incentive to none of the productive sectors.”
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