LEADER of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Mr. David Granger told the

the National Assembly last Tuesday that the main Opposition will withhold support for proposed spending that is not in the nation’s interest.He said the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Budget 2014 will be “measured by its public impact and APNU reserves its right to disagree with provisions which are not in the national interest.”
On Thursday, President Donald Ramotar said the Opposition must stand to their word and only “cut” with the national interest in focus, particularly considering the positive “impact” of many major projects, such as the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project.
Noting these transformational schemes will not just benefit the social welfare of the Guyanese people, but advance economic development as well, the President said that had the Amaila Falls Hydropower budgetary allocation been supported last year and allowed to start, the country’s economic growth would have surpassed the recorded five per cent.
“If he (Granger) holds to his word, there will be no cuts,” the President said during an interview at Office of the President last Thursday, just before the start of Day Two of the examination of the 2014 Estimates in the National Assembly.
On the said day, the combined Opposition, APNU and the Alliance for Change (AFC), disapproved of several key allocations in the 2014 Budget.
The cuts include: The Specialty Hospital ($910M); the upgrading of Regional and District Hospitals, including Port Kaituma, Kwakwani, Linden, Bartica, the Eye Surgery Operating Room at Linden etc. ($360M); ambulances, ATVs and Boats ($42M); surgical equipment and instruments ($32M); the Amerindian Development Fund ( $1.1B); other Amerindian Programmes, such as ATVs, Tractors etc.($40M); the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) modernization project ($6.6B); Civil Aviation ($50M); and Hinterland Airstrips ($185M).
At the time of speaking, the President expressed optimism that there will be no major amendments to the 2014 Estimates, particularly since Government Members of Parliament (MPs) are ready and available to give “exhaustive” answers to questions from the combined Opposition.
The Head of State said no questions have been left unanswered to date, since the commencement of the 10th Parliament.
President Ramotar said the proposals in the 2014 Budget reflect the same fundamental priciple on which the Founder of the ruling party and ‘Father of the Nation’, the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s ‘Development with a Human Face’ theory was grounded, and maintained that the 2014 Budget has something in it for everyone, of every class and every sector.
He said a look at the major social sectors, with education taking the lion’s share of the Budget, will indicate Government’s unflinching commitment to investing in social and national developmental programmes to benefit the people of the country. “Isn’t this development with a human face,” he asked.
As for the Opposition’s unsavoury comments that there is “nothing good” in the 2014 Budget, the President reasoned that either their members did not read the Budget, did not understand it, or are simply being “malicious” with the positions they have taken. He also decried what he termed as an obvious pattern of “opposing for the sake of opposing alone.”

WORRYING TREND
He is of the opinion that the Opposition’s disposition is reflective of a worrying trend, given his Government’s many attempts at inclusive governance, in the interest of tackling the challenges that face Guyana, both at an economic and social level.
He said cuts to the National Budget would be a violation of the ruling of Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang, who pronounced, on January 29, that the National Assembly has no right to cut the national estimates.
On the much talked about cutting of allocations to the National Communications Network (NCN) and Government Information Agency (GINA), President Ramotar said this is purely a matter of “vindictiveness” and is without any objective reasoning.
He alluded to GINA’s function of updating the Guyanese people on the works and progress of the current Administration and said any reduction to its spending can be read as the Opposition attempting to “muzzle” the Government.
The President said when it comes to NCN, the words and actions of the combined Opposition contradict each other. A case in point, he said, was an incident where an APNU MP, Sydney Allicock, was bullied off an NCN programme by his colleagues last week.
Allicock, who had been invited by the Network to appear alongside Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, on the live programme, ‘Budget In-Depth’, last Friday night, was instructed by APNU’s Chief Whip, Amna Ally, to “Get off that TV!”

OVERHEARD SHOUTING
While the broadcast was being aired from the lower flat of the Public Buildings, Ally was overheard shouting from the upper flat: “Sydney! Sydney! Get off that TV!”
Allicock, however, defied the instruction and continued on the programme. Malika Ramsay, who identified herself as APNU’s Public Relations Officer, showed up and questioned why the Opposition MP was appearing on an NCN programme without her or Ally’s permission. Ramsay also, reportedly, demanded that the broadcast be ended, and Allicock taken off it.
The Head of State concluded that, in addition to the Opposition ‘opposing for the sake of opposing’, there is a general level of non-cooperation from the combined grouping.
He cited the position on the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill as one of the more glaring cases in point.
“If we can have a little cooperation, we will be able to move forward,” President Ramotar said.
He said there is no objection from his Government to engage in consultations and noted that the only reason for ignoring the many requests to consult on the 2014 Budget was to justify reducing the estimates.
He remarked that it is easy for the Opposition to make promises, even to the extent of fueling false expectations among citizens, when they are not the ones who have to be accountable in the delivery of a better life for the Guyanese people.
On that note, he reiterated that the Opposition must hold to their positions that the national interest will be the focus of any amendments to the 2014 Budget.

(By Vanessa Narine)