Latest update April 1st, 2025 5:37 PM
‘Joint development plan won’t work’ – Opposition leader says parties have major difference on management of oil sector, spending on infrastructure
Kaieteur News – Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton on Tuesday said he does not agree with the joint 15-year development plan, proposed by the Alliance For Change (AFC), since the three major political parties differ fundamentally on national priorities.
Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton
The plan was touted by Leader of the Alliance For Change, Nigel Hughes during an outreach in Linden. Hughes was adamant that such a policy was not only critical to attract foreign investment, but to ensure there is continuation of transformative projects which would otherwise be terminated or cancelled over political disagreements.
Norton who also leads the People’s National Congress Reform noted that while he appreciates the rationale behind the suggestion, describing the plan as “well-intentioned,” collaboration with the ruling People’s Progressive Party presently is highly improbable. He explained, “The PPP is focused on ensuring their families, friends and favourites become rich at the expense of the people with the use of corruption as their favourite means of accumulating wealth.”
Norton said the PNCR/APNU believes in putting people first and at the centre of its agenda both as a moral obligation to guarantee their well-being and as a social and economic investment. Meanwhile, he noted that the PPP is “hell-bent” on spending the bulk of the country’s revenues on infrastructure projects in the false hope or wishful thinking that this expenditure will trickle down to the masses.
On the other hand, the Opposition Leader noted that his party’s focus on people is geared towards respecting and enhancing their rights, dignities, security, and aspirations, while the PPP’s attitude seems to point in a different direction. Norton cited the wage increases for teachers and other public servants, questioning how the political parties could agree to the increases offered by the incumbent administration.
Additionally, the Opposition Leader, the PNCR/ APNU, as part of the next government “will wage war on corruption and financial waste in government spending. On the contrary, the PPP is naturally comfortable to facilitate or condone tens of billions of dollars diverting into the bank accounts of its friends, families, and favorites.” Norton was keen to note that the PNCR/APNU’s contrasting approach on this aspect alone is enough to doom any collaboration on writing a development strategy.
Importantly, the party leader highlighted that the two sides differ fundamentally in the management of the country’s oil resources as well. “For us, full liability coverage for oil spills is a must; a Petroleum Commission is a must; full and effective audits are a must; closure of financial loopholes and leakages in oil revenues is a must; increasing our share of the pie is a must; and ensuring Guyanese benefit fully from oil revenues is a must,” Norton urged. He believes that the PPP do not share any of those convictions and in fact opposes them as is evident in its resistance against setting up a Petroleum Commission and joining the legal case against full liability coverage in the case of an oil spill.
Norton said the PNCR/APNU sees the need to embed the principles of good governance in Guyana’s national political milieu and sees no evidence that the PPP will embrace or support such endeavours to promote the rule of law, transparency, accountability, responsiveness, inclusion and participation, equity or basic human rights.
Finally, the leader said joint economic planning must be based on a solid political consensus or shared political understandings, however “The PPP’s inborn obsession with total political control makes such a consensus impossible.” He pointed out that the record would show that the PNCR/APNU is open to joint efforts when they are likely to succeed, as in the defense of Guyana’s territorial integrity. On the subject of continuity however, he said the party does not see itself stopping or reversing projects since many under the PPP were conceptualized by the Opposition.
- Development, Norton, oil, plan, proposed
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