Primus tears into budget

Feb 06, 2026 News

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– says not a single policy for culture, youth and sport in spending plan

(Kaieteur News) – First-time Member of Parliament and General Secretary of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) Party, Odessa Primus, on Thursday launched a blistering attack on the PPP/C government’s Budget, branding it “deeply flawed” and accusing it of abandoning youth, culture and sport despite lofty promises.

Speaking during the Budget debate, Primus zeroed in on the Culture, Youth and Sport sector, saying the budget’s theme, “Putting People First,” collapses under scrutiny. While she welcomed the slogan with biting sarcasm, she argued that the numbers and policies or lack thereof tell a very different story. “And now looking at that, imagine, after all these years, you have now decided to put the people first. Thank God for that. But when you examine the budget, honourable members, when you examine the budget, does it actually put the people first? Absolutely not, absolutely not,” she argued.

Noting that the “entire budget is flawed, including the cover of the budget,” she said when you look at the culture, youth and sport section, the problem begins when there is a minister who lacks vision and an understanding of how culture, youth and sport works. “How could you have a ministry and have not one single policy for that ministry, whether it be youth, whether it be sport or whether it be culture. That in itself says that there exists a flaw,” she said.

Primus noted that there has to be something that guides, that informs what happens within those ministries, and this she said, the ministry has taken a no policy position. Not only is there no policy, the Opposition MP pointed out that as it relates to culture, Youth and Sport, the government does not see youth as important, as they have gotten one of the smallest budgets allocated to any ministry.

“I was so concerned when I looked at the $8 billion that they were given last year, and this year they had to reduce that to $6 billion and we have over 70% of the people in this country are youths. So, you could imagine 70% of the people are only given the smallest part of anything. This can’t be a government that is putting the people first, which people, who certainly not the people who are involved in youth, sport and culture, certainly not our artist, certainly not our sportsmen and women, certainly not our young people. This government has failed, and this budget is a clear illustration that they intend to continue failing,” Primus raised.

Turning her attention to address the struggles in the industry of culture, Primus told the House that if there is anybody who has an authority to speak on culture; it would be her and APNU’s MP Saiku Andrews. Primus noted she has been in that industry from childhood and can relate directly what are the struggles faced by the people who are in the cultural industry. As it relates to the preservation of culture in this country, the MP stated that when it comes to culture, there is absolutely no place in this country that artists can go and learn about other people who paved the way and who participated in culture. “We have names like the Mighty Rebel. How many young people who are going to school and tell them about Rebel, and they could tell you who the Mighty Rebel is. How many young people could tell us about Henry Rodney’s contribution to the theater as well as to the culture. Habib Khan has been one of the most outstanding comedians in this country. That man loved the art so much that he dropped out of law school and went ahead and pursued his career in standup comedy,” Primus pointed out.

She noted that the government’s idea of promoting culture at One Guyana shows, cannot be something that you just do one and two times. “That is not how it works, Honourable Member, our culture should be preserved,” she called out.

Death of drama

Primus also recalled that previously there used to be a Drama Festival for budding writers and actors which is no more. Describing what is happening in the sector as a sad state of affairs, Primus stated firmly that there is “Nothing in this budget, absolutely nothing in this people centered budget is for the people who are part of the arts.”

Speaking about the struggles in sports, the WIN MP stated that there are sportsmen and women who would go around and seek donation from the business community for sporting gears, sponsorship and other needs. “And I am saying that if we had a policy in place, we would not be in this position. Because in as much as there is all this excitement and grandeur, when our artists come back in the country from performing overseas, and they hang these wonderful medals around their necks, from which we are proud of as a nation, that is all that they are getting in very many cases, because very many of them did not have the money to go there,” she explained.

With Guyana being the fastest growing economy in the world, there should not be a case where “our athletes and our artists living like beggars in this country.” Not only should there be improvement for athletes, Primus said for coaches in the country who have dedicated their lives to the children in this country, there should be some sort of compensation for their contributions.  She also went onto speak about the sporting facilities and grounds in communities around the country, that with billions being allocated, some are still in a deplorable state. “How could we have billions of dollars, billions of dollars year come year go, and it is not reflected in the way our country looks. Nobody’s saying that we don’t appreciate the work that the ministry is doing, but we would appreciate greatly if it is done with holistic thought that covers everything,” she disclosed. While highlighting other issues affecting the sector, Primus during her speech also made several suggestions that the ministry can approach for development.

Incentivising coaches

As it relates to sports, she suggested that the government can look at giving incentives to coaches and ensure they are well trained and placed across the country to develop more athletes.  “One of the things I listed here is to teach Guyanese history, folklore and so on within our schools. And I do believe that, that is one of the things that our ministry needs to ensure that they do to look at local language, proverbs, storytelling and our heroes should be included in our education system,” she suggested.

She suggested grants should be given for short films, stage plays, documentaries, dancing, painters, and writers. “Those are people who are starving for help within the industry, as well as tax incentives or breaks for artists who produce local content within Guyana. Most important and urgent, of course, is putting together the policy,” she added.

In defending his government’s budget and sector, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr. noted of the several investments made to support and develop the culture, youth and sport in the country since resuming office in 2020.

Highlighting some of these, he stated that they undertook the responsibility of building five stadiums which are all set to open this year and rehabilitating the Sport Halls.  “I want to be clear, the first one is happening on Saturday. It is going to be a huge event and it’s a beautiful facility, in Bayroc in Linden,” the minister announced.

He added that in the last five years they have invested in over 600 community grounds and have installed lights at some 145 grounds across this country. Ramson noted that they have established a National Sports Academy, and have built strong relations with sport associations and “all of them have issue their support and benefit for this budget.” He said they have started the tracking and monitoring how many medals local athletes have earned noting that there are over 1000 medals they participated in at international and regional sporting events.

Additionally, he said they also distributed a number of sporting gears which they would continue to do.

As it relates to culture, the minister defended by stating that his ministry restored the Guyana Prize for Literature, added new categories and which is being held annually. “We turn that into a Literature Festival that is what we are doing for culture.” Minister Ramson noted that officials had met the drama artist, and worked with on the right to stage initiatives where the government funds their drama plays. Among other initiatives that the government invested in, he stated “Persons who are involved in our programmes are doing better now than they have ever done before. They are earning a good living, they are buying homes, or buying cars, all of that is happening.”

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• budget, Charles Ramson Jr, Odessa Primus, We Invest in Nationhood

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