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Guyanese – is oil lifting up, or dragging down?

Jul 02, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Guyanese have been told that this massive oil is the end to their extreme hardships, their entry into economic paradise.  Has this been their experience since the discovery of billion-barrel oil discoveries?  Or, have their individual and collective experiences been of a lesser delight, even more of finding themselves in a bigger financial hole now that these huge amounts of oil have been found?

The PPP/C Government, from leaders Ali and Jagdeo to ministers make it their duty and put on a show about how much the government has done to boost the lives of citizens, and give them a taste of what being a recipient of the nation oil money means.  Guyanese have heard with numbing regularity about cash grants, Because we care, pension increases, increase in the minimum wage, and more.  To be fair, those have their merits and have made a slight difference for short periods.  But they are far from enough, get gobbled up by higher and higher prices for most of the basics of a decent living.

It is also beyond debate that leaders Ali and Jagdeo have taken good care of their friends in the private sector, and considering how much that group has benefited, there is simply no comparison to what the ordinary citizen has received.  One way to make this possible is through enormous budget allocations for infrastructure projects, in the transportation education, health, and security sectors.  It has been drummed into any Guyanese who would listen that the immense spending on infrastructure works is to prepare for the century ahead, and to improve the standards of Guyanese.  Without saying a word about corruption, there are elements of substance to those representations.

So, we revisit the question: are Guyanese ahead of the game compared to where they were prior to oil taking us by storm, and making this country the talk of the world?  When recipients who qualify add up their cash grants, pension increases, and so forth, are they winners?  Or have the citizens of this country lost again, but only they don’t know it, because their minds have not focused on, and fully understood, what is going on, and what has direct and severe consequences for them in their daily lives?  In other words, there are hidden costs, which they have to pay, and which makes a mockery of the cash grant pittances and other increases that come into their hands.

There are four areas that we will quickly touch to support where at this publication stand about Guyanese in a deeper hole economically now that we have oil.

First, the fishing sector in parts of Guyana has been decimated.  The result is catches have shrunk, and prices have soared.  Many citizens consume fish, perhaps most, but now they have to pay more, or do without marine products, possibly jeopardizing their health.  Second, the much talked about construction boom is real, with work going on all over, but with a big downside for Guyanese.  Building materials and construction labour have skyrocketed, and that now digs a deeper financial hole for prospective homebuilders.  They have to borrow more millions, which means mortgages are higher, and more interest has to be paid.  To make the point clear: this wipes out $25,000 cash grants, minimum wage increases, and other aids.  VP Jagdeo has said that he is concerned about inflation, which is why Guyanese are not given the kind of cash-in-hand relief that they desperately need.  Curiously, he hasn’t said anything about construction inflation, its impacts.

Third, the steep increase in heavy duty vehicles plying our roads, and most having something to do with the ballooning oil sector, cause continuing damage to costly infrastructure.  To fix requires many millions, which Guyanese taxpayers must foot.  Fourth, it is said to be seasonal, or greedy middlemen, but the prices of food items keep increasing.  Some of this could be from the demand for those same items to supply the offshore oil sector.

From these four areas only, it becomes apparent that the money that Guyanese get they are giving back many times more in one form or another, and has oil consequences written all over.  Once again, are Guyanese winners or losers with their wealth?

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