Badal roasts President Granger on his "Decade of Development" slogan

Badal roasts President Granger on his “Decade of Development” slogan

Jan 04, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

In his New Year’s Day message, President Granger outlined that his Coalition’s plan for the next decade is based on four pillars, The Green State, The Digital State, The Petroleum State and the Education Nation.
The President has shown us yet again his party’s lack of vision and the obvious contradiction between their plan and his performance over the past four and a half years.
The Green Development strategy under his leadership has been little more than painting of Government buildings in green. We are still generating electricity from heavy fuel oil instead of LNG, while discouraging acquisition of new vehicles including electric vehicles by extortionary, high taxes. His fiscal policy actually promotes used tyres and old used cars that pollute the environment.
His emphasis on a Digital State contradicts his Government’s failure in liberalizing the Telecommunications Sector, his policy of import taxes and VAT on cell phones. In fact, there has been no investment under his tenure in getting us to 4G internet speeds, in some parts of Guyana we are still at 2G.
As regards his Petroleum State his administration’s failure to enact legislation or even a policy on local content despite continuous calls from the Private Sector would render “The Petroleum State” a mere slogan with the purpose to deceive. In addition the lack of transparency surrounding oil contracts have ignited widespread speculation that our people have been sold out to big oil companies.
Education is a critical component in the development of any country but no investments have been made under his tenure in extending apprenticeship and other vocational training across our country as was promised. A youth development policy that took two years to assemble in a document is yet to be implemented. The hierarchy of his administration is filled with retired Army personnel instead of bright young men and women. Like his predecessors in the PPP, his administration’s record is to tokenised our youths instead of giving them their rightful place at the table.
No mention is made of a Green Revolution to diversify and expand agriculture, the main pillar of any sustainable development strategy, understanding that our oil and mineral resources are finite and will run out within the next two decades. Neither is any mention made of a programme of Industrialisation using our gas resources or value added initiatives from our bauxite, forestry or agricultural resources pivotal to job creation.
Slogans and contradictory policies would not create jobs nor give us a better life; it certainly has not for the past few years. This requires the leadership we have never had since our independence.
Perhaps the offer of food and drinks and soca music to attract attendance at the Coalition’s campaign launch tells the real story. Successive administrations (PPP-PNC-APNU) have failed to elevate the standard of living of the masses and deliberately kept Guyanese in a survival mode. The same old dance, promises and ethnically divisive politics would get us nowhere.
It is time that we say, “No more to Granger sloganomics!” Not again!

Robert Badal

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