WHILE MY last article dealt a lot with some of the large-scale initiatives designed to take Guyana into the future, such as the LCDS and the OLPF, I would like to look at another dimension of our development which is – while not as easily recognised – just as important.
Some might even argue that these developments of which I speak are even more important than the progress made thus far in terms of improving the physical infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and schools, and putting the country back on a firm financial management.

Here, I am speaking about those long-term investments that a country makes in order to secure, from an early stage, the future generations and the welfare of the country in a world increasingly characterised by the erosion of special and deferential treatment and by oil and financial crises every few years.

Government is today spending more money on education (one of the highest in the developing world) because it is of the view that this is one of the soundest investments any country can make. Saudi Arabia has been known to expend almost 10% of its budget on Education, while countries such as Norway, France and South Africa spend more than 5% of their annual GDPs on the Education system. And for those who’d like to know what the United States of America spends, it’s 3% or USD 129.8 billion. It is widely accepted that in this increasingly advanced world, it is the educated who will rise above the challenges in terms of being able to develop the resilience by using their skills to work for the betterment of themselves, their communities and their country.

The budget for education, as well as for the other social services such as health, has grown tremendously over the years, indicative of where Government is placing emphasis and spending the people’s money.
Critics of the Government cannot seriously dispute the progress that has been made in these areas over the last 10 years.

If the first decade of the PPP/C’s rule was about rebuilding a torn and tattered economy and infrastructure, then the second decade was definitely about consolidating the gains made through enhancing governance and democracy and making the investments that – as I said – are not immediately visible.
But the significance of these investments cannot and must not be ignored, especially in a more challenging world. It is these investments that would help Guyana to seal its place in the annals of time. It is these investments that countries which have started off modestly and are now trailblazers have made – investments in the education, health and wellbeing of their people.

I would like also to address the issue of discrimination which itself is often raised by the Opposition and which puts a stain on any Government in the management of the distribution of its services. These I believe have to do with persons’ own perceptions and their quest to score political mileage.

Think about it – how hard it is to play on the emotions of people and say that Government is discriminating against them so that they could jump to your side of the fence? Yes…it is that easy to do.

But people must be cautioned against speaking of discrimination in areas where clearly none exists. I am not saying that there may not be persons working in a Government office who might not fall prey to the temptation to accept an inducement to provide a service where that service ought not to be provided, for any number of reasons. If someone who should not qualify for a service does get that service given to them it can create a legitimate opportunity for persons to cry discrimination. It is not a policy of the Government to discriminate against any person or group of persons based on ethnicity, class, religion, gender or sexual orientation. They all have an equal right to access any Government service and anyone seeking to deny a person of that right and besmirch the good name of the Government should be held to account for his or her actions.

With regard to power sharing, I recognise that the Opposition’s definition of what this is may differ from the Government’s, or even differ among the Opposition themselves. It is apposite to note that some changes made to the Constitution during the Constitution Reform Commission process in the early 2000s have changed the landscape with regard to how much power the Opposition has. As a result of those changes, the Leader of the Opposition has a veto power over decisions that require his consent, such as the names of nominees to serve on Constitutional Commissions.

“The Constitution could have done what other Constitutions have done in other parts of the world, where, while they do allow for this consultation, if there is disagreement the President or Head of State could still go ahead and appoint. We did not put that. Therefore, by doing so, we allow the Leader of the Opposition to have a veto power on a number of critical appointments.

If one takes the time to look back at the past governments this country has come under and the development the country has seen, whether it be the construction of the Demerara Harbour Bridge which was one of the infrastructural developments this country saw under the leadership of LFS Burnham or the development of the Henrietta Housing Scheme in Essequibo, or perhaps the Reliance Housing Scheme in Essequibo. Or whether it be the transformation of Sophia, where in the early 90s when Sophia was a squatting area with more than 400 squatters was turned into a blooming housing scheme through the cooperative leadership of President Cheddi Jagan and then opposition leader Mr. Hugh Desmond Hoyte. Comrades, it shows that not everything which is done by the ruling party at the time is perceived as “nothing”, in fact if anything it shows that we as Guyanese tend to want the best for our country regardless of what political party we’re affiliated with.