Roysdale Forde reacts to 2023 budget

Jan 18, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

The 2023 Budget was overwhelming in the length and delivery but underwhelming in substance. The budget, despite being 41.6 percent larger than last year, is absent on meaningful measures to arrest the rapid decline and deterioration in the quality of life of the Guyanese people.

The Budget is amazingly uninspiring and profoundly disappointing. One clear message in the Budget is that people do not matter; things do. With an abundance of oil money the Government has not put in place systems to ease the burden of the high cost of living on the people. The PPPC Government is uncaring and unresponsive to the felt needs of the people.

This Budget is a poverty trap in the oil and gas economy. This year Guyana’s economy is expected to grow by 100 per cent when compared to 2022 and 2021 but the majority of Guyanese are left out from the Budget. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPPC) Government thinks it would be able to fool all Guyana into believing the Budget caters for them. The 41.6 increase in spending is not designed to address the 48 per cent of Guyanese who live on less than $1200 per day, the 49 per cent of Guyanese who are poor, the Public Servants finding it increasingly difficult to have three square meals on the table, and keep a roof over their heads when inflation has outstripped salary increase, the Pensioners, and unemployed.

In 2022 the Government gave Public Servants a paltry increase of 8 per cent and Teachers were paid not one cent.  The PPP/C continues to refuse to negotiate with the Trade Unions in keeping with those workers’ right to collective bargaining. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports that in 2022, inflation in Guyana rose to 9.4 per cent. Workers who receive pay raises only got 8 per cent.

At the most basic, the Budget leaves the poor and vulnerable in a worse state as the pittance offered as increases cannot allow the majority to withstand the rate of inflation unleashed on Guyanese.  The economic situation is worse for Pensioners and the Young Uemployed.

Public sector pay increase– The Government has budgeted $3 Billion in salary adjustment for healthcare workers and members of the disciplined services. The allocation is insufficient even for the identified categories. The Public Sector workers go beyond the identified workers but they were not catered for. Taxation– Increasing the tax threshold by $12,000 is negligible when compared to the President and Ministers who continue to pay themselves increases when they pay ordinary workers, but their income remains tax free. Agricultural sector– The sum allocated the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and agricultural sector is not for the development of ordinary farmers, fisherfolk and sugar workers but an avenue for Government to channel money to the ‘One Guyana’ beneficiaries, i.e. the nouveau riche and political elites. GuySuCo continues to be plagued by ineffectiveness and inefficiency. President Ali must address his mind to fixing the ailing industry. Throwing money behind it without a proper plan and allowing for poor management will not deliver successful results.

Education– Education is a gateway to escape poverty but many are being deprived. The allocated $3.7 Billion to the University of Guyana (UG) and $1.8 Billion to the GOAL programme, which represents half of UG’s sum, is misdirected. The money given to GOAL should have been directed to the university and local educational institutions like the Critchlow Labour College, the Technical Institutes, and Trade Schools, recruiting local Educators and paying them more. 2023 is another year when Guyanese are being denied free university education when Article 27 of the Constitution of Guyana stipulated this as a right and the country can more than afford to pay for its citizens’ education. A child grant and uniform grant could never be a substitution for quality education.

Guyanese know, like the World Bank, the standard of education is subpar to our colleagues. It’s the same for health. The World Bank in its October 6, 2022 Report on Guyana stated learning and health outcomes remain low in Guyana when compared with their Latin American Caribbean counterparts. Infrastructure– The allocated sum represents a significant portion of the budget, but this is done with deliberate intent. Infrastructure presents avenues for corruption and Guyanese have not forgotten VICE News investigate reports that revealed the ugly underbelly of corruption and money laundering between Government officials and Chinese businesses in return for lucrative contracts. People haven’t forgotten Mr. SuZhirong, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo’s tenant and friend, the wealth he amassed through association, what he told VICE News journalists, their meeting with Mr. Jagdeo at his house, and what Mr. Jagdeo told them.”

Corruption– Corruption has increased under the Ali government, according to the Transparency International Corruption Index. President Ali has reversed the hard work to reduce corruption put in by President David Granger, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and other Ministers in the APNU+AFC Government. Guyana’s image is once again being tarnished. There is every reason for Guyanese to feel this budget, the largest ever in the country’s history, could create possibilities for increasing corruption if President Ali does not return to the anti-corruption policy of the Coalition government.

Exclusion not inclusion– Guyanese do not begrudge their fellow Guyanese prospering but Guyanese want to see fairness by Government and many do not feel they are getting their fair share. Their views are not without justification. The Budget was not about All Guyana, only about President Ali’s ‘One Guyana’. Mr. Ali has ignored the calls of United States Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ambassador Sarah Ann Lynch to be inclusive and ensure shared prosperity. He has ignored the inclusionary requirement of the Constitution. He has ignored the input from the political opposition and many stakeholders in society.

Sincerely,

Mr. Roysdale Forde, S.C., M.P.,

Shadow Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs

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• Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), International Monetary Fund, Mr. Roysdale Forde, People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPPC), University of Guyana

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