Dear Editor,
THE wise King Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes declared that money answereth all things. The Working People’s Alliance, through its representatives Dr. Clive Thomas and Professor David Hinds, in their ‘Buxton Proposal,’ is recommending that all Guyanese households should benefit from ‘cash transfers’ from Guyana’s forthcoming oil wealth.
Critics of the cash transfer proposal seem to be psychologically motivated rather than philosophically driven, arguing, variously, that recipients will not put their money to good uses; poor people will become dependent on handouts; people would become lazy and won’t be motivated to seek and to maintain gainful employment etc.

While these arguments seem reasonable, based on examples of welfare programmes from around the world, they cannot be justified in Guyana. As the first and only Co-operative Republic in the entire world, this is the first real opportunity since Guyana became a Republic on February 23 1970 that all Guyanese citizens stand a chance to receive dividends as a birthright! As legitimate members of the world’s only co-operative country, disbursing annual ‘Citizen Dividends’ (or CDs) will be a profound act of leadership, and a fulfillment of the highest ideals of the cooperative philosophy. Oil production is scheduled to begin 50 years after Guyana embraced the cooperative model of economic development. Guyanese must now benefit from a shared inheritance of the oil wealth as heirs and joint-heirs with their Government.

During the first 25 years of the cooperative movement, from 1970 – 1995, Guyana experienced both positive and negative responses to this model of development. The Agriculture, Banking and Housing sectors experienced the most success stories. Time and space would not allow for elaboration. Most importantly, however, during this period, Guyana established the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), which became a model for other National Insurance Schemes throughout the Caribbean region. It was and still is Guyana’s bold and visionary social-security safety net.

During the last 25 years, from 1995 to present, the cooperatives movement suffered severe neglect, with the coup de grace occurring in 2002 when the Guyana National Cooperative Bank was closed and sold off by the People’s Progressive Party Civic government. Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel. In a major presentation on the Cooperative Movement in Guyana at the Commission for Social Development in New York on Tuesday, February 19, 2019, Permanent Representative of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to the United Nations, Ambassador Rudolph Tenpow declared, “One of the factors behind the revival of the cooperative sector in Guyana is our recognition that the spirit and practice of cooperatives are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with their emphasis on social inclusion, gender equality, the economic empowerment of social groups that might otherwise be excluded and marginalised, and in general, the people-centered ethos of cooperatives.”

The spirit of the cooperative movement must, therefore, be rekindled and taken to another level during the ‘Decade of Development”, which will be launched in the Cooperative Republic by President David Granger next year. In fact, as President Granger insists, education will be the cornerstone of the coming Decade. His vision is to see Guyanese becoming the best educated people in the Caribbean. Cooperative education must, therefore, be an integral part of public education at all levels. The time has come for all Guyanese to fully embrace the word “Cooperative” in the official name of our country. It will literally pay dividends!

A lot has been said about the establishment by the APNU government of the Natural Resources Fund, also known as the Sovereign Wealth Fund, to be managed by the Central Bank of Guyana. Whilst this fund will set aside profits from the oil wealth for future generations, it is only fitting that the present generation of Guyanese also benefit directly from the petroleum royalties. Of course, this will not materialise overnight. Economists predict that dividends can kick in by 2025. In keeping with the cooperative spirit, therefore, APNU should embrace and promote the ‘cash transfer’ proposal as a ‘Citizen Dividend (CD)’ or ‘National Dividend (ND) in its 2020 Manifesto. This 20/20 Vision (Nice manifesto title by the way!) would be Solomonic in scope, and will fit right into the Decade of Development and the Green State Development Strategy Vision 2040!

In tandem with the proposed Citizens Dividends, it would be wise for APNU to also pursue the re-establishment of a New Guyana National Cooperative Bank (or any other appropriate name) that will be ultra-modern, with innovative in-bank and Online-Smart technologies. In addition to branches in all 10 Administrative Regions and Capital towns of Guyana, it is envisaged that with Online banking, Guyanese in any part of the world will be able to open accounts and conduct business through a modern GNCB. The New GNCB will be the national financial institution which may regulate a National Dividends Scheme, and provide capital for establishment of small to medium-sized businesses based on established formula.

The formation of a Bipartisan National Wealth Commission may also become necessary to monitor and evaluate as well as develop policy. I would urge the promoters of this very worthy economic concept of ‘cash transfer’ to use the term ‘Citizen Dividends (CDs)’ or ‘National Dividends (NDs)’ instead of ‘cash transfer.’ This will be more in keeping with the cooperative model of development, and lead to economic empowerment that is sustainable. “Let us cooperate for Guyana, Let us cooperate for our land, Let us resolve to fight together, see we do it right together, Can we do it? Yes, we can!”

Regards,
Stanhope Williams