AFC/APNU proposes Gy$20B cuts
– in 2012 Budget
– Finance Minister says cuts ‘extremely alarming & very surprising’
‘We will fight it; we will not accept it’ – PM Hinds
– Edghill dubs it as ‘infantile politics’ by the Opposition
THE Opposition parliamentary parties, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC), are proposing cuts to the 2012 Budget worth billions of dollars – including allocations under the Office of the President, and the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) — in an alarming move that could affect several significant areas of development as well as place a number of persons on the breadline without jobs.
The AFC and APNU tabled separate Motions in the National Assembly yesterday, to cut the 2012 budgetary allocation to the Office of the President by a whopping Gy$20B.

Two notice papers of Motions for Amendments, to be moved in the Committee of Supply of the National Assembly to the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2012, were circulated to the House yesterday.
One is in the name of APNU Member of Parliament (MP), Mr. Carl Greenidge, proposing certain cuts to the budgets of several agencies, including the Office of the President; Office of the Prime Minister; and Ministry of Finance – which could seriously impact the LCDS and Guyana’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) drive, and even provisions to the Government Information Agency (GINA) and the National Communications Network (NCN).
The other Motion was tabled in the name of AFC Leader and MP, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, proposing cuts to programmes under Office of the President and Office of the Prime Minister as well, and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Members of Parliament (MPs) Prime Minister Samuel Hinds; Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh; and Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Bishop Juan Edghill, during a news conference held in the library of the Public Buildings immediately following this surprising development yesterday, all vehemently condemned the proposed cuts by the Opposition.

Minister Singh reminded that, before the consideration of estimates commenced, APNU’s MP Volda Lawrence enquired whether government would be willing to meet to address concerns by the Opposition in relation to the budget estimates; and he affirmed that government would be pleased to meet with them, as government always was, providing that the concerns being referred to were documented in advance, and provided that the schedule for consideration of the estimates that have been agreed to unanimously would entirely be adhered to.
Dr. Singh reminded that, the very next morning, a meeting was convened at Office of the President between President Donald Ramotar and an APNU delegation led by Leader of the Opposition, Mr. David Granger.
“In my own estimation, those discussions were progressing cordially and, I believe, were being executed effectively,” the Finance Minister told reporters.
He said discussions continued to the end of the week, with another extended meeting on Sunday, “at which the APNU issues were discussed in great detail”.
“Given that these discussions were ongoing, it did come somewhat as a surprise — the tabling of these proposed cuts; and it comes as an even greater surprise when one peruses the cuts that are being proposed. And I have to say that they are extremely alarming, to put it mildly, and very surprising,” Dr. Singh declared.
“I would hope, and I would call on the Opposition to reconsider the cuts that they have proposed — both the APNU and the AFC — because some of them really completely defy reason,” the Finance Minister implored.
He noted, “The parliamentary majority of one must not be used to demonstrate political power, but must only be used responsibly in the national interest. And it could not possibly be in the national interest to cut the budget whimsically and fancifully purely for the purposes of demonstrating political might,” he insisted.
The minister said that were one to examine some of the proposed cuts, it would be “quite astonishing that the Opposition would think it appropriate that these areas merit downward adjustment”.
He highlighted as particular examples the proposals regarding cutting the subsidy to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc., and $18B worth of cuts under the LCDS.
Dr Singh noted that government had announced it would be providing in budget 2012 a $6B subsidy to GPL. He added, “We explained that the subsidy was made necessary by the fact that GPL last adjusted its tariffs (on) December 19, 2007. Fuel prices have increased between 60 and 70 percent since then, and there has been no adjustment to tariffs to accommodate the rising cost of generating power by GPL.”
He went on: “We, therefore, proposed a $6B subsidy to GPL in order to assist GPL to meet the rising cost of its fuel bill and to cushion the impact of (the price of) imported fuel on GPL, and indeed, ultimately on the final consumers of electricity.
“It is astonishing that the APNU would suggest a complete cut of the subsidy to GPL. The AFC also suggest(s) a cut with no reason or basis whatsoever. They suggest that the subsidy be reduced by $1B,” he noted.
Dr. Singh noted that this proposal runs directly counter to the interest of the electricity consuming public, who are essentially the people of Guyana; and “is in stark contrast with the position that they have taken with respect to Linden.”
“It would be recalled that APNU had most recently adopted the position that they are insisting that the electricity subsidy be preserved in Linden, bearing in mind that electricity is virtually free in Linden. Electricity is paid for by household and commercial customers at rates (of) between $5 and $15 a kilowatt hour; (and) in Georgetown and on the Coast and on the GPL grid, electricity is paid for at an average rate of $64 a kilowatt hour,” he explained.
“I find it astonishing that APNU would see it fit to propose to deny the GPL customers a subsidy, while they are insisting that Linden continue to enjoy a subsidy,” the PPP/C MP highlighted.
Turning to the LCDS, he said, “The LCDS has won global acclaim. It is a strategy that is being implemented with major international partners, including the Kingdom of Norway; and major international financial institutions, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme.”
He said the LCDS ranges from the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, which is the largest, and has smaller projects, including institutional strengthening of the agencies involved in administering the LCDS, such as the Guyana Forestry Commission, the Office of Climate Change, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Amerindian land demarcation, and strengthening Amerindian villages’ economy; and supporting small business development nationally.
“All projects that go to the core of the LCDS and, more importantly, go to the core of national development and national well-being; and indeed, in the individual wellbeing of almost all of our citizens,” he underscored.
“Against this background, and in this context, it is completely incomprehensible that the APNU would propose to cut all of the LCDS projects from the budget. That is something that I find extremely difficult to understand,” the Finance Minister stated.
He also noted that the AFC proposed cuts to GECOM. He asked, “Who could possibly and reasonably argue with an elections commission that is adequately resourced to discharge its responsibilities?”
“We have all been clamouring for Local Government Elections for years. We have lamented the fact that Local Government Elections have not been held since 1994. We have provided funds in Budget 2012 to enable GECOM to execute Local Government Elections,” he said.
“To this end, it is therefore astonishing that more than half a billion dollars (are) being proposed to be cut by the AFC from (the) GECOM budget. One has to wonder whether this is a party that is committed to Local Government Elections, given this really incomprehensible move to reduce the GECOM budget,” he lamented.
“As a government and as a party, we recognised the need to hold these long-overdue elections, and we ensured that resources were provided to execute them; and I condemn in the harshest possible manner this effort to reduce the GECOM budget, the effort to cut the LCDS allocations, the effort to cut the GPL subsidy, and the several other proposed cuts,” he stated.
“I call on the Opposition to withdraw these cuts as soon as possible, in the national interest,” Dr Ashni Singh reiterated.
In answering questions about how this would affect future talks with the Opposition, he said: “We will not lose our appetite for speaking. This government is committed to speaking and to listening, and we will continue to be available to be engaged. But I will say that this move is unhelpful, but will not hinder or temper our willingness to speak, and to listen, and to engage.”
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds also said he was astounded when he saw APNU giving notice of its intention to remove the total subsidy to GPL.
“What I think this shows most of all (is that) all of us who are in government, who are leaders, have to hold an open, even hand all across the country, and in so many sectors and areas. And what this shows most of all is that the APNU is not ready to do that. It’s ready only for the easy streets, it is not ready for the difficult decisions which a government needs,” he said.
“We will fight it. We will not accept it. We call on them to remove it, but we will not accept it. We will not accept their cut on the expenditure proposed for the GRIF (The Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund) funds, which we have earned as a nation and which we will put to development,” he stated.
Minister Edghill, in remarks, said: “This is a clear indication that we still have an Opposition that is not thinking through matters before they make proposals.”
He noted that one of the cuts proposed to be made to the Office of the President’s estimates was on subsidies and contributions to local organisations. It means that staff of several agencies will be without jobs.
He observed that the opposition parties have basically cut everything else except the allocations to the Presidential Guards. “We see a manifestation of infantile politics when you see that they are seeking to cut all of the President’s advisory services, including the salary of the HPS and the Deputy HPS, and people who provide support to the President. I don’t know a President can function with mere guards, and not with officers,” Minister Edghill said.
He opined that the APNU proposed cuts were almost like what the AFC was proposing relative to contracted workers “that brought a protest outside of this Parliament”.
“These suggestions, the impact of (them) is getting to the heart of Guyana’s economic growth, and the proper conduct and running of the Office of the President,” the PPP/C MP maintained.
“…this means that the Opposition has not changed; they talk and then they do their bad-faith action, and I think this document should be withdrawn,” Edghill insisted.