Opposition agrees growth positive, but calls for amendments
THE Parliamentary Opposition continued to lament over the 2012 National Budget, during the ongoing debate on it Wednesday.
The presentation was made by Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh two Fridays ago, under the theme ‘Remaining on Course, United in Purpose, Prosperity for All’ and it was the largest budget in the country’s history, totaling $192.8 billion. During the Wednesday session, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP) Volda Lawrence said that, given the laying of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2011-2015 in the House last August, one would have thought that the Government’s agenda would have clearly embraced it.
“The non-reference to this document in this 2012 Budget presentation is rather surprising,” she said, suggesting: “The reality is that the Finance Minister’s budget has little or no sound provision to fulfill those objectives.”
Lawrence said no mention has been made of three of four pillars, including good governance, improved social services and special intervention strategies for vulnerable populations.
Alluding to the positive growth in Guyana, she said the minister did not indicate how it will impact on the realisation of its strategy and she expected to see the Government address, in a comprehensive manner, the seven pillars set out for the economic and social transformation of the nation.
Lawrence said, with the increased growth, there was the expectation of some new measures to address the way additional income was distributed and Government would have sought to reduce the high degree of inequality in the distribution of income, thereby “setting Guyana on the way to attaining rapid reduction in the number of persons living in poverty.”
She referred to the view of the Budget being “anti-poor, anti-ordinary citizen and anti-vulnerable group” and said that APNU proposes it be amended to offer a minimum of $10,000 per month to old age pensioners.
The APNU MP agreed that the increase in public assistance has been continued and said there is a need to review the age of retirement and look at the emerging picture of the elderly group.

LAMENTABLE
It is lamentable that nothing has been forthcoming from the report of the committee which was put together, by the Government, for the reviewing and reforming of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), she declared, insisting that there is an urgent necessity for the restructuring of that pension scheme.
Lawrence also mentioned the issues facing women in the country, including domestic violence, as well as various forms of child abuse.
She said APNU is committed to reviewing the Sexual Offences Act to ensure that there is “no miscarriage of justice through any loopholes this Act may now contain.”
Acknowledging the scourge of domestic violence, Lawrence said: “The time has come now for us to address this issue in a comprehensive manner, taking into consideration modern social work interventions, including counselling by trained professionals.”
She said there must be equitable distribution of the national wealth to the people and concluded that: “The 2012 budget does not begin to address, in any tangible way, issues which I have outlined.”
“As we sit in this Honourable House in the 10th Parliament, I want to publicly declare that the issues which our people face each day must be addressed. APNU believes that the 2012 Budget must be the beginning of this process,” Lawrence maintained.
She said: “We hope that the Government, which boasts of concern for the ordinary people, will be like-minded and make the necessary adjustments to ensure the smooth passage of this budget.”
Fellow APNU MP, Ronald Bulkan, in his contribution, also made reference to concerns of growing income inequality in the country and matters relating to local government affairs, among others.
He pointed to instances of lack of understanding of human needs and concern for human development, declaring that the Budget lacks a sense of the latter.
“This budget would have benefitted from meaningful consultation and consensus (and) I urge that we move away from rhetoric and embrace reality,” Bulkan stated.