Allow Guyana to continue on path to progress
THE 2012 national budget is not a panacea for all the challenges that Guyana faces, both at the national and global levels, but rather it builds on previous budgets, People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Chief Whip Gail Teixeira acknowledged on Monday. Adding her contribution to the ongoing debate in the National Assembly, she urged the Opposition in the House to desist from using innuendos to create a bad image of the country.
“Many of the Opposition members have stated that the budget has no vision but no one has mentioned the vision of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) or the Alliance For Change (AFC) in relation to the budget,” she remarked.

QUOTE:‘Innuendos are not going to move the country forward as the current image of Guyana cannot be disputed, in terms of how it is looked at by organisations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF).’ – Teixeira

Teixeira said she is hoping that APNU and the AFC do not waste the opportunity to approve this budget and allow Guyana to continue on the path of progress.
She spoke of the hopelessness of the poor and vulnerable in the 1990s, noting that the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was a mere US$290  in 1991, but now there is enough evidence that poverty is declining in Guyana since per capita GDP today is US$2,868.
Teixeira admitted, however, that, despite the figures, poverty has not yet been conquered but the country has made big strides in decreasing its level.
She said government is satisfied that there is equality of opportunities for people in Guyana.
The Presidential Advisor on Governance made reference to the 1980s, when some 54 percent of Guyana’s children were malnourished and said, today, although poverty has not been completely eradicated, that state of abject deficiencies no longer exists.
Teixeira declared that the achievements are not a fiction of the PPP/C, as the Opposition would often seek to convince the populace, stating that the international community and the Guyanese populace, as a whole, have recognised the strides that have been made.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE
She emphasised that the biggest challenge faced is building trust and confidence and opined that a stable political environment is critical for the country’s development.
Alluding to constitutional reform, Teixeira said all should be proud of what has been achieved in this regard, not forgetting that the Administration has built an inclusive governance model.
Referring to it as unique, she insisted that Guyana is the only country in the Region in which the Leader of the Opposition has a veto vote and it is a powerful tool of inclusive governance.
Teixeira said there appears to be a mood, amongst the Opposition, to unravel the gains that have been accomplished after much struggle.
While they have the right to make their representations as geographic MPs, they need to think about where Guyana is going, she said.
According to her, Guyana has been positioned at a point where  Guyanese can now look five years ahead and talk about things such as hydropower, which was a dream of this country for over 40 years.
“Innuendos are not going to move the country forward as the current image of Guyana cannot be disputed, in terms of how it is looked at by organisations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” she observed.
Teixeira said the IMF states that “Guyana’s future looks bright despite many challenges; the country must lock in the gains from recent years of fiscal consolidation, prudent, sustained macroeconomic policies and have resilience in the face of economic shocks.”