I must say that I rather enjoyed Mr. Khemraj’s letter in the Kaieteur News of June 15 about Guyana having a donkey-cart economy. It was a rather inventive name and there are some valid points in his arguments.

I do agree that remittances prop up consumption and put the brakes on the drive to work. There are too many Guyanese who sit around and wait for money to come through Western Union from their relatives in Queens.

However, Mr. Khemraj and a lot of other commentators in Guyana and the world over seem to have forgotten one of the basic premises of economics – the economic development cycle. We like to compare our economy with those of countries like the United States, Great Britain and others; but forget that these countries have been in existence for hundreds of years. Guyana, on the other hand, only celebrated its 43rd Independence anniversary on May 26.

Do you want us to solve the ethnic conflict that was seeded by the British under their ‘divide and conquer’ tactics to stall Guyana’s drive for independence? It’s not going to happen over night. The United States took almost 200 years to solve their racial conflict.

How does Mr. Khemraj expect Guyana to move from “the production of goods that are at the low end of the global hierarchy of products” to high value-added products? Should we stop accepting grants and soft loans from international institutions? If we do, this year’s budget would have to be cut by about $40B and that would mean cuts in spending on education, health and security. Does Mr. Khemraj suggest that?

What many commentators fail to realize is that Guyana will not move from a developing country to a developed country in a short space of time. It will probably take another century or more for that to happen. But Guyana is moving on the right track, not the wrong one. As Mr. Khemraj said, there has been “price stability, several structural and institutional reforms have been put in place such as financial sector liberalization, the VAT, and several legal reforms to facilitate business activities”. Also, Government has invested in numerous infrastructural projects to increase the potential of the Guyanese economy.

Do not get me wrong. Guyana is no bed of roses but no country is. Those Guyanese who have moved overseas work just as hard over there if not harder than those who remain here.

Finally, calling Guyana a donkey-cart economy is an insult to all the hard-working Guyanese who strive each and every day to produce the goods and service on which you rely, Mr. Khemraj. Insulting Guyana does a great disservice to the cane cutter in Berbice and the bauxite worker in Linden, to the government worker and the garbage collector. Guyana will become greater and better than it is today, but it will take time. So be patient, man!
PREITY SEEMANGAL