Govt inherited good, bad and ugly –Opposition MP concedes
PPP Member of Parliament, Yvonne Pearson
PPP Member of Parliament, Yvonne Pearson

By Ravin Singh

OPPOSITION People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Member of Parliament, Yvonne Pearson has conceded, albeit in a roundabout fashion, that the Coalition’s claims that it inherited “a broken system” are indeed justified.“When the government took over, it took over the good, bad and ugly; and they must now fix it, because they promised to fix it…” she told the House Tuesday during the 2016 Budget debates. Contending that all the Coalition government has been doing since taking office is complaining, Pearson said what they ought to be doing instead is addressing the issues which continue to affect Guyanese on a daily basis.

Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valarie Garrido-Lowe
Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valarie Garrido-Lowe

PRECIOUS LITTLE
While she was at it, she told the House that the 2016 Budget has precious little to offer poor people, particularly the Indigenous Peoples, who, according to her, have since lost all confidence in the government.
Pearson, a former Head of the National Toshao’s Council, recalled that while in opposition, both the APNU and AFC had accused the then PPP government of starving the Indigenous Peoples. But now the boot is on the other foot, she said, they’re singing a different tune.
“Where are the provisions for the starvation which Amerindians were facing?” she asked. Not particularly hoping for an answer, she said, “I believe they are more faced with starvation now, because the little that they had was taken away.”

One of the “little they had that was taken away”, as was skillfully rebutted by Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Valarie Garrido-Lowe, was the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprentice Programme (YEAP), which had in fact expired in 2015.
Another fallacy propogated by the PPP now that they are out of office, was that the new administration terminated the contracts for almost 2000 Indigenous People who served as Community Support Officers (CSO), when in actual fact, the programme through which it was funded had come to an end.

But, true to character, Pearson insisted that it was “ethnic cleansing”, in spite of the Granger administration painstakingly explaining on numerous occasions that the programme had expired.

Minister Garrido-Lowe was not going to let her get away with it, as she let the House know in no uncertain terms that “those individuals received 30,000 for doing nothing at all.” By that she meant that the 2000 or so people who were allegedly put out of bread by the Granger administration were in effect being paid handsomely by the PPP to campaign for them.

LOST CONFIDENCE

Seizing the opportunity to take a well-aimed dig at her parliamentary colleague, Minister Garrido-Lowe said that perhaps it is not the government that the Indigenous Peoples have lost confidence in, but rather the PPP, since not only was it unseated from office, but it has also failed miserably to acquire a majority in the National Assembly.

Moving along, Minister Garrido-Lowe weighed in on the merits of the 2016 Budget, saying how elated she was that careful thought had been given this year to the plight of residents in hinterland communities.
Noting that the government will not only seek to finance those hinterland communities to aid in their development, she explained that the long-term goal is to position these communities to be self-sufficient.
“We’re not only looking to give better roads, but more emphasis will be placed on education to develop human capital,” she said, adding that youths in every indigenous community are suffering from lack of jobs, and that the government remains committed to addressing this issue.
“To not continue the previous government’s trend of wasting money, we need to train our Indigenous Peoples, and prepare them to be young entrepreneurs and for leadership roles in their communities. And this is what our government will be doing,” the Minister said.
PLAN OF ACTION
In 2016, the government will be investing over $4B in support of the Plan of Action for Hinterland Development.
Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan in his budget presentation in the National Assembly on January 29 revealed that in excess of $280M has been allocated to the promotion of economic prosperity, tourism development and the preservation of cultural identity.
He noted that this sum is inclusive of grants for 211 Indigenous communities that will build village economies and fund eco-tourism projects specifically for the nation’s 50th Independence celebration.
Additionally, nearly $1 billion has been budgeted for the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) project. Launched in October 2015, the project will prepare youth for leadership roles in their communities.
The Finance Minister noted too that to help narrow the gap in living standards of residents of our coastal and hinterland regions, the Government has allocated over $2 billion for the establishment and improvement of physical infrastructure throughout the hinterland regions, in 2016. Of this amount, the sum of $1.7 billion has been identified for the rehabilitation and surfacing of roads in areas such as Mahdia, Bartica, Ituni, Kurupukari, Tabatinga and Port Kaituma.

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