Word going the rounds is that Guyana is on the brink. But the question arises: On the brink of what? On one hand the Government is driving development on an upward trajectory in a multiplicity of ways. On the other hand, the joint Opposition is hell-bent on stymieing development in every conceivable way.We are a developing country, emerging from a history of a plethora of destructive elemental forces. Our nation had been devastated to the point where even the more optimistic thought that we would never emerge from the quagmire in which we had been immersed for decades. We were at the point where even the more altruistic funding agencies had practically written us off as almost beyond redemption.
That’s until Jimmy Carter decided, in the interest of justice, and in light of the contention of Guyana’s supreme leader, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, that the PPP had been “cheated, not defeated” for decades during general elections. The Carter Centre then used its phenomenal power to force the Hoyte administration, which is recorded to have been responsible for the worst election rigging in the history of Guyana during the general elections of 1985, as well as the Draconian Economic Recovery Programme (ERP or Empty Rice Pots) that he had imposed on the Guyanese people, to concede to having relatively “free and fair” general elections in our country after decades of PNC rule.
Dr. Jagan was vindicated and the reconfigured PPP, with its civic component, undertook the gargantuan task of trying to restore some order out of the critical and chaotic national landscape then prevailing – in every area.
One of the more pressing needs was to reduce the crippling debt burden – $2.1 billion, which was stymieing rehabilitation and developmental works.
Dr. Jagan and his brilliant and trusted protege, junior Finance Minister Bharat Jagdeo, went into overdrive, lobbying at every conceivable forum for a reduction and/or write-off of the albatross of Guyana’s debt.
The international world responded favourably over the years and this, coupled with prudent fiscal management, has enabled Guyana to stabilize its economy.
This has also allowed some degree of growth, in less than two decades, to the extent where, in a recessional global environment, Guyana has managed to maintain stability and sustain its macro-economic achievements.
The importance of this to the national economic health and the development of Guyana’s macro-economic fundamentals is being attested to by some big leaguers in the entrepreneurial fraternity, most of whom are not traditional PPP supporters.
However, they are honest enough to publicly recognize the Government’s policies and strategies, and its willingness to engage in interactive programmes for the development of the private sector’s initiatives.
Yet the joint Opposition has no qualms in putting all the gains in peril by their non-support of the AML/CFT Bill.
So, Guyana is on the brink, of either disaster, if the Opposition prevails; or runaway development if the Government’s endeavours hold sway. Only time will tell which direction this nation’s future will take.