THE Opposition is once again insulting the intelligence of Guyanese. Since they cannot argue using facts, they choose to play with words. This is their strategy in their desperate attempts to discredit the Government’s 2014 National Budget and derail Guyana’s development yet again. They know that they cannot dispute the facts that are staring them in the face, so they are resorting to empty rhetoric and semantics.

Judging from Mr. Granger’s budget presentation, one gets the impression that development is an event and not a process. It is in this context I wish to comment on what Mr. Granger is reported to have said in his 2014 budget presentation. I did not look or listen to his presentation, since I was not prepared to subject myself to such torture, but I draw attention to some of the hypocritical statements in his address, as follows:
“Budget 2014 must be amended if people are to enjoy a good life”- Granger. This is a very interesting statement. The Opposition has amended both the 2012 and 2013 budgets, but they are yet to explain to the people of Guyana how those amendments made their lives better. If they cannot prove that their previous amendments have resulted in Guyanese living a better life, how can they proceed to amend the 2014 budget, claiming that this is necessary for people to live a better life. What confounded nonsense is this? Have their deprivation of the Guyana economy in excess of 50 billion dollars over the past two years made any positive impacts on the lives of Guyanese?
Has Guyana come any closer to providing its citizens and business community with cheap and reliable energy by killing the Amaila Falls Hydro Project?
Mr. Granger called for the reduction of VAT. Had Granger taken the time to do some simple research he would have discovered that 16% VAT is quite low compared to many countries around the world. If his chief economist, Mr. Greenidge is an economist indeed he would have been able to advise him that any reduction will disproportionately benefit the rich. Greenidge would have also been able to tell him that the introduction of VAT has resulted in the rich paying their fair share of taxes, since all the items consumed mainly by the rich carry VAT. With the same breath, Granger called for the creation of jobs for school leavers. Could Granger explain how a reduction in Government’s revenue and, for that matter, their amendment of the national budget will lead to the creation of jobs for school leavers? Printing more monies as the PNC did? We know what that led to.
“We now have a new dispensation in which the APNU and AFC can combine to save this budget. We must now work towards giving our people a good life”- Granger. Is this guy serious? They have been combining to save the budget since 2012 by cutting out all of the Government’s key development projects. The question I would like to ask him is, have their actions in saving the budgets of 2012 and 2013 led to improvements in Guyana? This is yet another example of Granger’s and the Opposition’s flawed logic and confounded nonsense. Mr. Granger, the majority of Guyanese are intelligent people. You are insulting them.
“No single party knows everything” – Granger. Very true, but it seems that the Opposition doesn’t even believe in what they are saying. They willfully ignore the Government’s invitation to participate in the budget preparation. They instead want to establish a parliamentary committee where they dominate to prepare the budget. It seems they believe that they know everything. Maybe they do. They know everything about how to destroy a country and its people’s future. History has proven this to be correct.
Granger said that APNU knows the micro-economic fundamentals. Didn’t his chief economic advisor, Greenidge, advise him that if you want to improve the micro-economic fundamentals you have to work on the macro-economic fundamentals in the first instance? But then again, this is asking too much of Greenidge. If he is aware of this very basic economic principle he would not have made Guyana bankrupt when he was the Minister of Finance. The question therefore is what Granger thinks will improve the micro-economic fundamentals? Is it cutting from the national budget every year, all of the Government’s critical development projects? What confounded nonsense are Granger and the Opposition dishing out to the Guyanese public. Mr. Granger must once again be reminded that Guyanese are intelligent people. He must not forget that Guyanese students for the past five-plus years have been outperforming the entire Caribbean.
Granger said that it is only through the majority side the executive can be made aware of the real situation on the ground affecting the people. This is a most interesting statement, because their actions since 2012 have proven beyond any doubt that they are totally ignorant of the real situation on the ground. When they kill the Hydro Power Project, were they not aware of the fact that the high cost of electricity is affecting every single Guyanese? They surely were not, because they were only thinking about Linden where electricity is free and the cost is a non-issue. Were they not aware of the cost of highly specialised medical care to ordinary Guyanese and how many lives could be saved when they denied funding for a specialty hospital in Guyana? Were they not aware of the cost of airfares to Guyanese when they denied funding for the expansion of our main airport? This list can go on. What do the answers to these questions make Granger and every member of the Opposition? The answer is plain and simple – hypocrites!
Granger said the National Assembly has an obligation to provide leadership; to provide a better budget. But how can irrational and vindictive chopping of the national budget be described as responsible leadership?
According to Granger, the National Assembly has a duty to design plans and strategies to overcome the economic, political and social challenges and it must forestall any folly that might prolong the nightmare of poverty that can lead us down the path of deeper destitution. What are the strategies and follies that Mr. Granger is talking about? The Hydro Project? The Specialty Hospital? Expansion of our main airport? Infrastructure in the hinterland? Or is he talking about himself and the entire Opposition?

FARUK MOHAMED