HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon said that the vindictiveness of the political opposition is clear for all to see.
“IT is clear for all to see the viciousness, the vindictiveness, the sickness of the opposition that has all become exposed heralded by rabid partisanship,” Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon remarked.
He made this assertion yesterday at his post-Cabinet media conference at the Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown.
Luncheon observed that in the same breadth that ‘A Partnership for National Unity’ (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) speak about preserving Linden electricity subsidies to protect the living standards of the people in Linden, they to the very same extent and breadth, have initiated cuts in the estimates that have led to jobs being lost, departments closed and major initiatives being abandoned.
“How could this be justified? What is good for Lindeners, by the very cuts, they are conceding and willing to go on record as saying that is not so for the rest. Let the others suffer and let them pay but don’t touch Linden,” Dr Luncheon charged.
According to him, $21B was cut from the budget “selectively and unjustifiably.” “On the basis of the cuts, one would have expected that the case would have been made for recession, but there’s no recession in Guyana.

“There is no need for measures of cutting the budget, closing down departments, abandoning major projects, sending people home, as we know are imposed in countries faced with financial crisis and have had to embark on austerity programmes. There is no need for an austerity programme in Guyana. Guyana has no financial crisis.
“Guyana’s economic growth is sustained and the proposed $192B expenditure for 2012 is financed well. So then, how does the opposition explain to Guyanese these budget cuts? How do they justify these budget cuts? And why? And that is what is puzzling Guyanese. Why?” Dr Luncheon queried.
Concerning the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and the subsidies, Luncheon said government explained to APNU and AFC what the GPL subsidies meant: reducing the likelihood of tariff increases for the entire grid based on rising costs in fuel.“They did not accept and with the exception they insisted on making for Linden, cutting the subsidies essentially, said let the rest of the grid pay.”
The government, he said, also explained to APNU what was behind the composition of the category of workers in the public service called contract workers. “Government undertook to provide information to show contract workers are being advantaged compared to what was historical, the open votes, and in terms of immediate cash,” he explained.
Luncheon said the opposition obviously felt that they had to demonstrate their powers to their supporters and they dare not engage in broad based well meaning actions.
“The battle surrounding the estimates of expenditure and supply for 2012 might be over and Guyanese on the whole might have lost. But mark you. Even if that battle was lost, the war has just begun. Let those who are affected by what has happened gird themselves for further struggle,” Dr. Luncheon stressed.