There is no chaos, no confusion, no crisis in Guyana

Mar 31, 2019 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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President David Granger said the perception of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) that the current political situation is causing a decline in business is a misperception.
Last Wednesday, GCCI made its contribution to the political Opposition’s attempt to prevent the nation, to prevent YOU from continuing with your lives after the fiasco of the no-confidence motion. The GCCI joined its lead organization, the Private Sector Commission, and said in a media statement that the “political uncertainty” is affecting the country’s economic activities.
The same opinion was expressed by its sister business support organization, the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce (CCCC). They all hope that the Caribbean Court of Justice would swiftly hand down its decision on the appeal to throw out the March 22 decision of the Guyana Court of Appeal.
They are doing their best to keep the failed no-confidence issue alive, and they are trying to appeal to the national conscience to make their case. It is confusing, because the economic uncertainty that they are trumpeting about is hurting the business community now. Their attempt to scare investors away is like shooting themselves in the foot.
We believe that the Opposition’s no-confidence motion in December was intended in part to sour Guyana’s vastly improved standing in the world, our improved investment climate, our people’s new attitude to learning new things in order to contribute to a bright future. So it is not strange that they now claim that the economy is suffering since December.
What did the Business Organisations expect? This is like distributing medicine to people claiming that it will cure all their ills, and then disclaiming responsibility when people get sick from it. The Business Organisations (BSOs) started out by supporting the appeal court decision on the Mathematical invalidity of the no confidence vote. They said earlier this month that it will restore investor confidence in this country which is about to become a big producer of oil and gas by OPEC’s standards.
Soon thereafter, Jagdeo raised the volume of his ranting and raving. The BSOs, supposedly speaking on behalf of their members in the private sector, did an about face and began to express ‘concern’ for the ‘business climate’ in the face of ‘political uncertainty’ and the ‘reservations’ of investors. They even talked about the reduction in Government and private sector contracts from December to February, which was the result of that ill-advised no-confidence motion laid in Parliament by Jagdeo. What did they expect would have happened?
The Court of Appeal’s decision restored order to the nation, the same nation that the PPP was threatening to make ‘ungovernable’ if they did not “get the country back” through bullyism.
Jagdeo’s credibility has taken a hit, so he is counting on his cohorts to keep the pressure up, and to make the international community believe that Guyana is politically and economically unstable. He hopes that investors would shelve their plans to invest then come back later when his ‘new’ government with their ‘Director in the wings’ is in ‘power’, so he could take all the credit for the Foreign Direct Investments.
But President Granger has put things into clear perspective, and the international community is listening. He said, “There is no chaos, or confusion, or crisis in the political situation. Everything that has happened since the 21st of December has been logical, and on the part of the Government, it has been (done) within the framework of the law”.
The President also offered an olive branch to the local business community: “I will meet the Private Sector Commission, I’ll meet any group and assure them that everything we’ve done has been open, transparent and in accordance with the law”. No one wants to see Guyana struggle again as the result of international mistrust. We’ve had more than enough of that!
President Granger has given the nation this assurance: “We will continue to do our best to give the people of Guyana a good Government and a good life”.
Despite the uncertainties and the gloom that the Opposition is still selling, hoping that the people would believe it, the Coalition Government continues to watch over the affairs of state even while the Opposition anticipates that the CCJ will overturn the Guyana Court of Appeal’s decision.
Jagdeo is not running (he CANNOT run) for a third term as President, but that does not stop him from declaring that HE is going to re-negotiate the Signing Bonus from ExxonMobil, and HE will overturn many of the deals that this Government already has in the pipeline, e.g. the loan agreement signed recently with the IDB for US$6 Million to purchase that long-awaited Electronic Single Window for Trade.
The same BSO’s riding on Jagdeo’s wagon train, have spent the last 10+ years begging for the Government (his Government in 2010) to implement this Single Window software at the GRA which is designed to computerize import/export transactions. The benefits include drastic reduction in the number of transactions, the length of time and the amount of fees required to process the numerous documents, i.e. before the business owners could get to the wharves to either receive imports or send their locally manufactured goods off to foreign markets.
Well, the single window is almost a done deal. It is an expensive product, but the main concern is for locally manufactured products to be able to compete equally with other products in the same international markets. The Single Window software is mainly for the business owners’ benefit. According to Jagdeo, from whichever position he assigns himself, he plans to erase all of these advantages “when” he gets back into ‘power’. Why, we ask, and for whose benefit?

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