…at GMSA luncheon
Statements made by People’s National Congress Reform – One Guyana (PNCR-1G) Presidential Candidate, Rtd. Brigadier David Granger, at the Guyana Manufactures and Services Association (GMSA) luncheon yesterday, were clearly out of touch with reality. He fielded tough questions from the local business community and centered his responses on a contention that greater productivity in Guyana is hampered by poor governance by the current administration.
However, backing up that assertion proved difficult.
Granger promised stakeholders present that a David Granger administration would guarantee a safe place to live and invest; a return of the country to the education nation it was; and a production-based economy, with a focus on agro-processing.
Saying that, he failed to realise that Guyana has already made significant progress in moving to more agro-processing activity, a fact clearly evidenced with the commissioning of the new Enmore sugar packaging facility.
The facility is part of a US$12.5M upgrade package for the Enmore Estate and another in the effort at making the sugar industry sustainable.
On the note of a return to an education nation, Granger stated that Guyana averages one school drop-out per hour and insisted that these statistics are backed by the Ministry of Education.
However, Education Minister Shaik Baksh denounced this as an absurdity; while he acknowledged that the education sector has drop-outs, these do not average one an hour.
Using his experience in the military to advance his agenda for security reform, Granger noted that many changes will be made and a David Granger administration will not interfere with the business sector’s operations.
In that vein, he stressed that the privatization of state-owned productive enterprises that began under the presidency of late Desmond Hoyte between 1989 and 1992 will continue.
Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Mr. Ramesh Dookhoo, before the conclusion of the session, made real suggestions for change that would be welcomed by the stakeholders.
The private sector’s needs, according to him, are political and regime stability, exchange rate stability, security and the absence of crime, clarity and fairness of laws and regulations, public service efficiency, investment protection, anti-monopoly practices, favourable attitudes to Foreign Direct Investment, the opening of an export promotion zone, better access to local financing, better labour relations, more availability of skilled labour, technicians and unskilled labour, a cheaper telecommunication services, reliable power supply, cheaper air transportation, improved water supply and improved roads in the interior.
Many in the audience disagreed with Granger, but did not want to say so openly.