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APNU + AFC government hindered businesses and caused uncertainties in the business environment
DEAR EDITOR,
Permit me space to voice my disagreement with letter writers and commentators, whether on social media, discussion forums or the print media who argue that the APNU + AFC government has not hindered businesses and caused uncertainties in the business environment.
In reality, gov’t’s policies, programs and practices over the last three to four years have stymied progress among existing businesses. There have been a number of obstacles and uncertainties forged by the APNU + AFC government.
First they mismanaged the economy through bad policies that saw the loss of over 30,000 jobs in the private sector. The loss of jobs meant that people have no income or less disposable income which in turn, has led to reduced spending by those affected, not to mention, the impact of increasing GWI and GPL costs on pensioners.
Second, their lack of support for the rice industry through either inadequate knowledge of the role of rice production in the national economy as a foreign reserve earner and job creator or a deliberate ploy to disrupt/destroy the rice farmers/sector. Many small rice farmers suffered losses in revenue, especially when the foreign markets dried up, and some are still to be paid for their paddy from previous crops.
Third, the shutting down of the housing drive (until the recent frantic political gimmick which is yet to bear meaningful fruit for those who participated) disrupted a chain of economic events. This closure, along with the closing/scaling down of the logging operations, has had a huge negative impact on the economy in terms of job loss and spending power.
For example, the sawmilling industry has had to lay off up to 60 percent of their workers due to the drastic fall in demand for wood and wood products. Concomitantly, many businesses saw a huge fall in sales for their building/construction-related products.
As a final point in this letter, revenue-garnering institutions have attempted to squeeze out taxes from declining businesses affected by bad gov’t policies. They refused to accept that revenue/earnings for these private sector entities have fallen to extremities, and continued to demand taxes based on earlier periods of high gains. In fact, there was a joke on the street, the gist of which was the GRA would tax you as a street vendor if they found you coming from the laundromat with several newly-washed shirts.
In essence, this inexhaustible sample of the APNU + AFC government’s bad policies, programs and practices over the last few years showed some of obstacles and uncertainties which have stymied economic/financial progress among businesses. It is, therefore, difficult to fathom the arguments of those who hold steadfastly to the false view that the gov’t has not engendered uncertainties in the business sector.
Yours faithfully,
Ronald Singh
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