After centuries of hope, Guyana now begins to receive adequate developmental capital for its economic revolution

Jul 17, 2022 Consumer Concerns, News

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==CONSUMER CONCERNS==

By Pat Dial

Kaieteur News – One of the irritants which Guyanese people encounter is the steady stream of journalists who warn the country of the Dutch Disease, the expected splurge of wasteful spending and the need for a Sovereign Wealth Fund according to their own peculiar model.  They become upset when they discover Guyanese are perfectly aware of the pitfalls of unexpected Oil Wealth and have taken their oil discoveries with mature equanimity and not with the wild celebratory abandon they expected of a “backward” Third World country.

Fortunately for the country, there are three or four leaders who have been exposed to the vagaries of International Finance and have an insight into the workings of the specialised Oil Industry and have been conducting the affairs of the Oil Economy with fair success earning international respect.

Guyana is dovetailing the Oil Sector into the rest of the Economy.  From the time of Sir Walter Raleigh, Guyana was reputed to be a land of wealth and rich resources but the door to these riches could not be opened except there was a massive injection of developmental capital.  Oil revenues have now begun to supply this long desired capital and it is being used in a rational and balanced way to simultaneously invest in all sectors of the Economy.

Guyanese people and their leadership, irrespective of their political affiliation, know that Oil is a temporary resource that will be exhausted in 30 to 40 years and Oil prices would fall as the world moves to green power with the exploitation of solar power, hydropower and wind power deescalating the demand for Oil.  Accordingly, Oil revenues must be invested in those areas of social and economic life that will continue to generate wealth and welfare way into the future.  Such areas are Infrastructure, Agriculture, Cheap Power, Social Services and Industry.  The investment capital is limited and so has to be deployed in a balanced way to all sectors and this results in slower progress in the individual sectors.

We will now look at the investment in the various sectors: Connectivity of various geographical areas and their populations would quicken economic development, integrate the population and allow people from the remoter areas to enjoy the same social amenities such as Health and Education as Georgetown.  Several of the Georgetown roads are being upgraded, the East Bank Demerara roads leading to the Cheddi Jagan airport are widened and upgraded and new connection roads like the one from Eccles to Ogle are being built.  The Linden to Lethem and the Linden to Georgetown roads have begun construction and bridges over the Corentyne River and Demerara River will in a few years become a reality.  It should be observed that this road connectivity would allow the various Amerindian communities to enter the mainstream and access the same social amenities as others.

The absence of economically priced power has long inhibited the development of Industry and the Economy.  This is now being addressed by solar and wind power schemes as well as hydropower, the centrepiece being the Amaila Falls Hydro Project.  The natural gas pipeline project whereby a pipeline would be constructed from the deep sea oil wells to bring gas to West Bank Demerara is on the way. On its completion in three years time, this pipeline would reduce the cost of electricity by at least half.

Agriculture has always been the mainstay industry of Guyana and with the oil revenue investments, it will generate a great percentage of the income of the country and be the main employer: The Rice Industry has been achieving higher yields;  sugar is being resuscitated against very adverse conditions; coconuts is being developed into a major industry; fish farming has taken off and the problems of deep sea fishing are being addressed; fruit and vegetable farmers are being assisted in a number of ways; poultry farms have been expanding and for the last two years there has not been any shortages of chicken and eggs; and honey production has been growing. Most importantly, markets for agricultural products are being explored and some, like the CARICOM markets, have been secured. Agriculture would continue to generate income and employment long after Oil has declined in importance.

Education and Health have absorbed a good percentage of the national Budget:  Schools are being upgraded and new ones built; school equipment is upgraded; various projects have been made to financially assist children and parents; and 20,000 scholarships in various tertiary disciplines are being made available to aspiring students. Teacher training in various fields is being energetically undertaken.

The Ministry of Health has completed its world class successful confrontation with the COVID-19 Pandemic and had been upgrading hospitals and health centres; ensuring that pharmaceuticals are never in short supply; introducing modern equipment in the hospitals such as digitizing X-Rays; training of doctors in specialised areas; making dialysis free by introducing more machines in the health system and also giving $600,000 per annum for dialysis patients who could not access the free treatment; and the programme of building a Specialty Hospital is still being pursued.  Most recently, Government of Guyana, Mount Sinai Health System of New York and Hess Corporation signed an agreement that would catapult Guyana’s Healthcare into a world class service that will ensure affordability and accessibility to Guyanese citizens.

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

 

 

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