Govt. has no clear plan to spend $126B of oil money

Feb 01, 2022 News

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– Opposition MP says $89B vulnerable to being lost to corruption

Kaieteur News – Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Amanza Walton-Desir yesterday kicked off the Budget Debates for 2022 with a fiery presentation condemning the administration of the People’s Progressive Party Civic as nothing but a “mafia masquerading as a government.”

The MP in her presentation, which drew on the theme, “show me where you spend your money and I will tell you what you value,” observed that Budget 2022 will only widen the gap between the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated and the gap between those living on the coast and the hinterland. Prefacing her conclusion that the PPP/C members “are a mafia masquerading as a government” that is only “focused on enriching themselves and friends.”
To this end, she pointed out that for 2022, Government has allocated out of its $553B budget, $218B for Capital Expenditure or new expenses, representing a 109 percent increase over the previous year.
According to Walton-Desir, this must be looked at in the context of the fact that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified an inefficiency gap by government in the execution of its public programmes of some 41 percent. She posited that in such circumstances, some $89B out of that money is projected to be lost to what she labelled bluntly as “corruption”.
“They (IMF) will not say corruption but we know what they mean,” the MP quipped and pointed to Guyana falling two places on the International Transparency Corruption Index.
According to Walton-Desir, government instead should reallocate the $89B to build capacity to better execute its work programme and also plugged it into measures that will bring relief to citizens.
“It is highly unlikely that this government will be able to execute such a programme,” she said, “why not reallocate, rearrange.” She posited had this money been saved, the 50,000 workers in the public service could have immediately been given a better pay increase; health workers would have also been able to receive a $250,000 cash grant; the income tax threshold could have been immediately raised to $100,000 in addition to a host of other measures such as $1.3B to train sugar workers. “All of this can be done right now and Capital expenditure would
Regarding the Natural Resources Fund and Guyana’s oil production, the MP was adamant that with 2022 being the first budget cycle to include earnings from that sector the administration’s cries of transparency can be put to rest as rhetoric. This, since, according to Walton-Desir, there is no trace of what programmes, the $126B to be taken from the fund, will be spent on. “Show me where you put your money and I will tell you what your values are,” she repeated and pointed out that the Budget Measures announced by the administration was only aimed at the rich, reminding that “trickle-down economics don’t work.”
She was adamant, “the numbers don’t lie; the numbers tell a story and the story it tells is that the government does not care for poor and working class.”
On the matter of oil funds, she said, “I am yet to hear clearly what projects will be funded by this money that they will take out from NRF; we just know they are using the money.”
Insisting that the country’s oil resources are the patrimony of current and future generations, Walton-Desir argued that the administration failed to deliver the promise of transparency.
“All you have to do is follow the money,” she said, “and it would illustrate that Budget 2022 will provide no real impact on the development on all Guyanese.”
The Opposition MP also called on the administration to show cause why it has been unable to deliver on any of its manifesto promises such as free education at the University, compensation of fisher-folk affected by the oil industry or increases for public servants.
To this end, she concluded, “the fact is you don’t care; they are a mafia masquerading as a government focused only on enriching themselves and friends.”
According to Walton-Desir, with each announcement of an oil find “Guyanese sink with despair; what is in it for me?” She said, Guyanese more and more are asking, what is there to be excited about when they are still burdened with the daily struggles of sending their children to school, when plantains are being retailed at $300 per lb and a pound of banga fish for $400. The MP said Guyanese were hopeful that with Budget 2022, “I hope they do something in this Budget (for me). She said what instead obtains is that Budget 2022 is “the most disrespectful, discriminatory and deceitful Budget to ever grace this House.”
Government MP and Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton in response, dismissed Walton-Desir’s adumbrations. He said the opposition was headless and had no vision to lead this country. He predicted that this would be the order of the opposition presentations over the coming days.

 

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