One good term deserves another

Sep 15, 2019 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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“We have found that the Neighbourhood and Regional Democratic Councils are not utilising their budgetary allocations and subventions to maintain the infrastructure in their communities. We find this worrying situation in Regions 5 and 6, and on the East Coast of Demerara.”
This was the lament of Party Vice Chairman, Cathy Hughes, made after community walkabouts in June, and again during the Government’s community outreaches across the nation.
The AFC is especially concerned that residents in neighbourhoods are not getting paid for the work that they do clearing trenches and parapets, and trimming trees. “They (NDCs) are not spending the money which they were allocated so the maintenance work is not getting done, and unfortunately, residents are blaming central government,” she said.
“It is not surprising that situations like these are prevalent in the villages controlled by the Parliamentary Opposition.” While walking through the villages, the ministers appealed to the NDC Chairpersons to get the work done, to make their neighbourhoods safe and comfortable.
Issues raised by residents included “half-completed” main roads, the failure of village councils to perform simple maintenance works, and a distinct lack of vision displayed by community leaders particularly on the East Coast of Demerara.
There is a marked absence of ‘high expectation’ among citizens, the AFC’s executive has said. “There is a lot happening that indicates that the immediate future of this country is going to be bright.”
The Vice Chairman said that groups of Government officials went walking along the East Coast corridor and in many villages they encountered this atmosphere, which truth be told, is not the attitude of a people who have high expectations that their country is on the brink of a major breakthrough.
One man said, “A certain man is muddying up the waters, confusing people, telling them that this Granger government ain’t got no intention of doing the things they saying they gon do with the oil money. I said WHAT? He (expletive) is the one with no intention of sharing the money from oil that belongs to we!”
“He confusing the people!” the Haslington man shouted.
The Party Vice Chairman Hughes then implored, “I wish you had the chance to travel and experience for yourself how people who had never heard about Guyana before 2015 … how they now describe this country. To them Guyana is “South America, the hottest place to be right now”. Of course, this is due to the high expectations that business people and investors in the developed countries have for this small nation that will become a global exporter of oil within a few months.
Guyana needs to be very strict with its finances now and in the future. This is to make sure that all citizens in the entire country can reap the benefits. You, the Citizens of Guyana, have to decide whom you trust to manage the oil funds, who you can depend on to use it to develop this nation for yourself and your children. YOU have to be able to see through the political ambitions and greed of the Opposition. YOU have to decide if they are helping you or just talking and shouting and promising with no intention to keep any of the empty promises they are making.
You have to pay attention to see who is building you up, or holding you back by refusing to provide you even with basic services like trench clearing, and potable water.
The Opposition is guilty! They spent long years doing nothing for you, failing to provide your communities even with basic services.
In the four short years that the Coalition has been managing this economy, and in spite of the opposition’s efforts to hold us back, the government has moved Guyana forward. There has been more development under the Coalition Government in just 4 years than the previous 23 years when the Opposition was “the Rulers” as they referred to themselves.
One of our strongest programmes is citizen security because there is no way we will allow the criminals to regain any strength and power. The security sector is more robust today, and the Safe City project is making you safer. We are keeping tabs on all the crooks
Piracy is almost eliminated and Government will continue to work with our Surinamese counterparts to ensure pirates face the brunt of the law in both countries
The Police Force is solving crime at a much faster rate, helped by the new machinery to perform DNA tests. And, in collaboration with international agencies like Interpol, Guyana has put a massive dent in the drug trade that was vibrant before 2015.
Government will continue to work towards improving Guyana’s global ranking. In fact, international financial and security agencies have labeled Guyana as the country with the fastest-growing economy in the world.
Despite what the opposition is saying, Guyana is already the most attractive place for investors, so, Citizens, be encouraged. Guyana is moving up!

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)

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