THE year 2016 is gone and the new year is upon us. As is customary, we put the challenges of the old year behind us and look to the new year with some degree of expectancy. For us, as a comparatively poor nation, every year is challenging. Our colonial plantation legacy has left us in a state of always playing catch-up with the rest of the world. Often, as we make two steps forward, the developed world makes five steps forward, leaving us even further behind.Because we get so wrapped up in our internal tribal politics, we fail to appreciate the external and institutional constraints on our collective ability to break through our limitations. Yet, those limitations are real, even if they are not always apparent to the victims. This past year, several of those limitations have come to the fore. Chief among those is the state of the economy. The new government, in its first full year in office, has found that out. From the closure of Wales Sugar Estate to the ongoing wage negotiations with various categories of workers, the health of the economy has been a constant factor.
The issue of a living wage for our workers, for example, has been front and centre—from teachers to public servants to sugar workers, the real producers of wealth have been raising their voices in pleas for increased value for their labour. What is not always properly articulated is that the very nature of the economy in terms of its scope, is itself a challenge to a better wage package; that an economy which has not been growing in real terms cannot guarantee a high rate of wage increase.
Of course, the government finds itself in a very tight situation. On the one hand, it must tout whatever small economic growth there is. But it also must be able to say to the country that that macro growth does not necessarily translate into sustainable development which allows for tangibles such as increased wages. In the final analysis, there must be a balance between investing in strategies to attract investments, both foreign and local, and ensuring that workers have reasonable wages and social services such as education, health care and infrastructural repairs and innovation are taken care of. Managing post-plantation economies with all their structural changes is not an easy job.
So, as we move into the new year and the imminence of our translation into an oil economy draws closer, there is a sense of optimism—cautious optimism. The experiences of Trinidad in the 1970s and currently in Venezuela show that an oil economy does not always translate into a thriving economy for all the citizens of the country; the oil boom could, if not managed properly, result in a bust. There is the temptation, given the poor state of the economy; there is the temptation to look to oil as the everlasting salvation of the country. As we move into 2017, our government must be cognizant of that pitfall. If it has not done so yet, the government may consider appointing a Council of Economic Affairs to begin to think through and plan for the imminent oil economy. This should be a priority for 2017.
But, no matter how much oil we find, we would not be able to adequately use it to the benefit of our citizens if we do not fix our social infrastructure. An oil economy with an unskilled labour force would not advance Guyana. A society in which motorists have no respect for limb and life would not be a good supplement for an oil economy. So, let us make 2017, a year of social renewal in our schools and our roadways and in our general collective habits. Yes, there is a connection between these issues and economic development
Finally, in 2017, let us vow as a people to do something about the hustling mentality that has taken over our country. While we bemoan the violent crimes, as we must, we must also pay attention to which our citizens have become callous to each other. The cherished value of being your sister’s-brother’s keeper ought to be restored as a guiding light. We still have it within us to rise above our collective frailties and reach again for the nobleness in us, something that all our major religions teach and which has informed our long and rich history of overcoming. In the end, all we have are ourselves.
Happy New Year Guyana.