President Bharrat Jagdeo continues to plug the new and emerging sectors of the economy as the drivers for Guyana’s economic success, even as he urges persons to create wealth by taking up opportunities for home ownership and job creation through entrepreneurship.
The President was speaking during a Cabinet outreach held in the mining town of Linden yesterday. The President and his team of Cabinet members revisited the community after an earlier visit in May, when he promised to return to address some of the most pressing issues facing the residents of the communities around Region 10.
On his second visit in recent days, the President outlined many fulfilled promises.
“I have a list of issues and I have approved $40 million to address them,” President Jagdeo said. He said that around the country, about 1,000 community roads have been awarded contracts for rehabilitation works. “We have awarded [contracts for] 27 roads in Linden and Wismar [at a cost of] $235 million, inclusive of rehabilitation,” the President said. “We are talking more than $300 million assigned to this community from the time of the last outreach to now,” the President said.
He said that unless persons are committed about where they want to go and are convicted that they will get there together, “We will be trapped.”
He said there is a generation that is trapped in ‘us’ and ‘them’ politics, and that this country was equally important to all of its people. To the naysayers, President Jagdeo said when “you don’t have ambition to achieve, you are always negative.” He said, “It is important that every one of you understand where we want to take Guyana.”
Turning to the management of the economy by the Government, President Jagdeo said that Guyana has one of the best statistical records in the region in terms of debt.
He said that since the Government took office in 1992, it has paid back some US$1.5 billion in debt and had another US$2 billion in debt written off, relieving the burdens for the next generation. This, he said, was as a result of “tough decisions” Government took to steward the economy.
He said at one time the country was using 94 of its revenue to service debt. He said this has now been reduced to 4 percent of revenue. He said the debt was seven and a half times the size of the country’s economy and that this has now been reduced to 40 percent of the economy.
The President said no country could have a future without addressing its macro-economic fundamentals. Citing some facts and figures, the President said the economy has grown from US$713 million to US$2.3 billion in ten years. He said external reserves have risen from US$296 million to US$628 million. In addition to these, the Government has been able to reduce significantly the size of the country’s deficit. President Jagdeo said Government is spending back more on “our own people, instead of debt.” He said Government wants to create more opportunities for families to start owning things and having money in the bank. He said because of the tax concessions that the Government has allowed for the banking sector in relation to housing, people are able to pay less in mortgages than they would have in rent. He told the people of Linden that they could be a part of the solution and create jobs thereby creating wealth.
The President said that although the traditional sectors of the economy will continue to be important, the more critical ones will be the economies of the future. He said if the Government and the people of Guyana focus on these areas, then the country’s economy can leap ahead in five to seven years. Among these industries of the future, he named agro-processing and the opening up of savannah-scale agriculture; Information and Communication Technology (ICT); eco-tourism and benefitting from carbon services that standing forests provide. On the last one, President Jagdeo said money earned through the development of the carbon market will go towards adaptation, education, healthcare delivery and ICTs.
On the need for the Amaila Falls hydro power project, the President said the cost of production in Guyana continues to be high and the cost of fuel is US$100 per year. He said that on the ongoing work in preparation for oil and gas exploration in offshore Guyana and in the Takutu Basin, Guyana will be able to make a big leap ahead if these prospects prove successful.