…President Ramotar pledges
…still open to talks with the Opposition
PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar has assured Guyanese that the People’s Progressive Party/civic (PPP/C) Government will continue to defend workers of this country.
And he has insisted that the combined Opposition parties, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC), cutting the national budget in Parliament is anti-working class.
Addressing hundreds of workers at the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) May Day 2012 Rally,  under the theme “Investing in Workers’ Welfare, Uniting the Nation”, at the National Park, Thomas Lands, in Georgetown, the Head of State extended, on behalf of the Government of Guyana, best wishes to all the workers in Guyana and workers everywhere.
He said this May Day is “finding us at some very difficult crossroads” with the financial and economic crisis continuing to cause destruction to the lives of many workers internationally.
He stressed that in the United States, thousands of people continue to lose their jobs and “poverty has become a fact of life for millions of people”. He pointed out that the region has also felt the impact of this crisis, with many Caribbean countries suffering too.

President Ramotar said this calls more than ever before for unity of the working people; not only internally, but the unity of the working class internationally.
Reminding of the agreement established with the European Union guaranteeing prices for some products, particularly sugar, he said that when that was removed and the sugar industry here lost US$45M, he noted that this had nothing to do with management and workers.
He said the country was able to avoid some of the worst consequences of the economic and financial crisis, adding, “we were able to do that because we had been investing in the working people of the country”.
Since 1992, all the administration’s actions and its main thrust has been to bring benefits to all of its people and to the working people in particular, and today, they are beginning to see the returns of their investment in areas such as  education, health, and housing.
He said his government recognises that things are changing rapidly, and it is preparing “our people for the future so that they will not be left behind, and will be able to compete with the rest of the world”.

The government is also planning to invest more and has many plans to develop the capacity of the country, making reference to the Amaila Falls hydropower project which is a very important project for every single Guyanese.
President Ramotar alluded to the Opposition budget cut to the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) projects and the $1B cut to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) subsidy.
He said the cut is not only jeopardising the hydropower project, but also the projects to benefit Amerindian communities and small entrepreneurs.
He questioned how the Opposition can say that cutting the National Communications Network, the Government Information Agency and the Ethnic Relations Commission to $1, “will not affect working class people”.
“I am at a loss to understand their logic and I can only conclude that they are being motivated by vindictiveness, by revenge, and possibly even by hate, by such actions,” he insisted.
He said workers have to do more, and they must recognise that the PPP, from the very inception, has always been a working class party that was formed in order to serve the working people.
The president said workers must make their contribution to the struggle that the PPP started long ago, and one of the things that they have to do is to try to bring unity among all the workers of Guyana.
He said the fact that the labour movement is divided has made it possible for the Opposition to do what they did in Parliament, to cut the budget, affecting the people.
“Today, the Opposition is showing very clearly who they are,” the Head of State maintained. He said, “The actions that were taken by the AFC and APNU in the Parliament has clearly shown that the anti-working class spirit is very deep in these people”.
“We have come a long way from 1992, and I want to promise you that the PPP/Civic Government will continue to defend workers,” the Head of State committed.
He said he still looks forward to speaking with the Opposition, but “not to come to make deals”, but to talk about how they can develop the productive capacity of the country and the capacity of the working people.
“We will overcome this little obstacle that has been thrown in our path, and we will continue on our course to make our people the most educated in the Region and to make our country one of the most productive and best countries in the world,” he asserted.
Also present at the rally were Ministers of the Government including Minister of Labour, Dr. Nanda Gopaul; Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran; Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony; Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee; and Minister within the Ministry of Finance Bishop Juan Edghill, and trade unionists.