Make Smuggling for Food and Fuel Legal to Curb Inflation

Dec 27, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

VP Bharrat Jagdeo now laughs before his press conferences, apparently, he himself seems to realize he is peddling ludicracy. His recent nonsensical blabber in response to the latest US$500M boondoggle involving Exxon’s taxes, which is causing this nation great suffering now seems to be a passing laughing matter, like the US$214M reduced to US$3M.

So far, over US0$1 billion has been squandered right in front of Guyanese eyes with simple accounting tricks involving ExxonMobil, imagine what this could have done to assist Guyanese with their inflation woes, particularly for food and fuel.

He now says, that not taxing foreign companies operating in Guyana is a good investment for Guyana, yet when he was in opposition lambasted APNU for having Exxon not pay any taxes. If not taxing foreign “investors” is good, then why is he taxing Guyanese? Guyanese daily invest their time, labour, and capital, work in hazardous environments, and risk their lives in traffic to keep this country functioning. Every good country globally has a robust tax revenue collection system, every bad country doesn’t. Guyanese of all walks of life now complain of inflation, so what are the solutions? The government can blame COVID, interest rate, exchange rate, and supply chain issues for inflation, but there are actions they can take locally to reduce inflation, by increasing the supply of goods, since increasing the supply of the goods is now more important than increasing the money amount, although increasing the money amount for citizens can help if the goods are available. With all the duty-free, and tax concessions given to foreign importers, particularly Chinese importers, how come the cost of goods continues to be so high in Guyana?

How come in this country agricultural produce continues to rot in the hinterland while people can’t get it in the urban areas? The same continues to happen to beef and other livestock produced in the Rupununi areas. Burnham tried to fix this through the GMC- Guyana Marketing Corporation, which the PPP criticized as usual, but the PPP never provided a solution. This world now has affordable rivers, and shallow watercrafts that Guyana can afford which can access the hinterland to bring food produce to areas in Guyana that suffers from inflation due to scarcity.

What the Ministry of Trade does for the importation of food to reduce inflation, I, like many Guyanese have no idea. Those in APNU currently blabbering about smuggled chicken should be reminded that “smuggling” saved Guyana from starvation during the failed “eat what you produce” policy of Burnham’s PNC government.

Guyana’s food supply was saved by those being referred to as smugglers, contraband runners, and illegal traders during the tough Burnham times, as they did a far better job than the Ministries of Trade and Agriculture combined to provide cheaply available food for Guyanese.

For this, they should be allowed to do it again but legally, grant them import licences and let them import food and fuel legally for Guyana, as mentioned before, they will do a far better job than the Ministries of Trade and Agriculture combined, since these ministries continue to be plagued by corrupt wrong pegs in wrong holes. Who is doing more evil in Guyana? The smugglers who bring in food and fuel or the foreign exploiters emptying Guyana’s wealth aided by their local sellout enablers? Local producers, and manufacturers of food, should have their products purchased by the government and given to hospitals, the military, and all living-in institutions guaranteeing them a market so they can be encouraged to produce more locally. With the billions upon billions being splashed around, surely the government can find the money for this. The government continues to use the money for development which only allows the foreign exploiters to transport wealth out of Guyana while the foreign exploiters’ food supply is guaranteed.

Many countries hit by inflation after COVID have taken measures to reduce their inflation problems by investing in their food supply, it’s time Guyana follow suit. Come on VP Bharrat Jagdeo do something to take the inflation pressure of Guyanese, like ring-fencing oil the projects, while letting “smugglers” import as much food, and fuel as possible, the paltry 6.5 % pay increase is not good enough for public servants to ease their inflation woes. VP Jagdeo, do something meaningful to ease inflation for Guyanese, and you can be the king that saved Guyana while Aubrey Norton will get cheap “cutters” for his drinks. Oh, what am I thinking? VP Bharrat Jagdeo would not change his ‘Vodoo economics’ to benefit the Guyanese. VP Jagdeo says to his critics, that they don’t know how to run a country, yet Jagdeo’s idea of running a country is to give away everything to foreigners while stomping on his country people at the same time.

The private sector which stayed silent all along is now awakening from its slumber due to VP Jagdeo’s economics, and now complaining as they feel the squeeze. Many other Guyanese are also following suit, and complaints about inflation are coming from across Guyana. But Guyanese how many times you have to be told that complaining will not bring you betterment? Only taking to the streets in protest will.

R. David

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• blabber, inflation, ludicracy, R. David., VP Bharrat Jagdeo

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