Crusade against poverty

Sep 11, 2025 Editorial

Kaieteur News – On Sunday at his inauguration ceremony, President Irfaan Ali announced that his new administration will launch a crusade against poverty, underscoring that Guyana- a nation blessed with oil, gold, bauxite, and other resources, should not be poor in living standards.

He said: “Not just the visible poverty in our streets, but the structural roots and hidden burdens that keep families from rising. We will fight it, reduce it, and ultimately eradicate it,” President Ali said. According to Ali, the key to delivering on these commitments lies in building a highly efficient, service-oriented public service. He spoke about refashioning a public service that delivers more online services and one that places the citizen at the centre of every action. He also reiterated his promise to dismantle bottlenecks that frustrate citizens and modernise the systems.

On the elections campaign trail, he spoke about cutting electricity bills by 50 per cent and the reduction in the price of cooking gas as a result of the government’s gas-to-energy project. He said too that job creation remains a top priority, and the part-time job programme, designed primarily for single mothers and low-income families, will also be expanded, with upskilling opportunities added to help workers earn more. Despite Guyana’s newfound wealth from oil and gas, too many citizens continue to live in abject poverty. The disconnect between national revenue and household prosperity is widening, and this must not become the defining paradox of the oil era.

The poor in Guyana often go unheard. In hinterland regions, Amerindian communities face chronic underdevelopment, with limited access to electricity, internet, clean water, and paved roads. In urban centers like Georgetown and Linden, underemployment and low wages continue to trap families in cycles of poverty, despite rising costs of living. Inflation, driven in part by the oil boom, is making basic necessities increasingly unaffordable.

President Ali and the PPP/C had made similar promises on the 2020 elections campaign trail. Back then, those promises struck a chord with thousands of struggling Guyanese who saw in the oil economy a chance for transformation. Five years later, many are still waiting for the benefits to trickle down. There can be no denying that Guyana is now an oil-producing state, with revenues swelling the treasury at a pace unimaginable just a decade ago. Yet, paradoxically, the number of citizens living below the poverty line remains disturbingly high. Skyrocketing food prices, widening inequality, and persistent unemployment are daily realities in communities from Linden to Lethem, from Berbice to Bartica.

It is not enough to announce pledges or paint glossy pictures of “One Guyana.” The people want action, not slogans. Poverty eradication cannot be achieved by handouts or headline projects alone. It requires well-targeted policies, transparent management of oil revenues, investment in education and skills training, and the building of sustainable industries outside of oil and gas.

President Ali must also confront the elephant in the room: corruption and waste. Unless governance structures are strengthened and accountability becomes the watchword, the promise of lifting citizens out of poverty will remain just that—a promise.

Kaieteur News has long cautioned that oil wealth, if mismanaged, could deepen inequality rather than eliminate it. The President must now demonstrate that his rhetoric is not just recycled campaign talk, but a firm commitment backed by measurable action. Guyanese are no longer impressed by speeches. They want results.

The time for lofty pledges has passed. With billions flowing into the Natural Resource Fund, there are no excuses left. The Ali administration must prove that poverty eradication is more than a slogan—it is the lived reality of every Guyanese.

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bauxite, crusade, Editorial, gold, oil, poverty, President Irfaan Ali

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