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Government Ministers, Dr. Frank Anthony and Mr. Clement Rohee, both of whom hold executive positions in the PPP, made the rejection yesterday when they met media operatives at the party’s Freedom House headquarters in Robb Street, Georgetown, where they reiterated “the outrageous attempt” by the political opposition.Rohee, addressing proposed cuts from their perspective, said the latest assault on the Budget, by the combined opposition, cannot be divorced from the sentiments of the Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, Brigadier (rt’d) David Granger, who, following the announcement of the estimates, had said the estimates contain a little bit for everyone.
The minister declared that the opposition has taken an about face on the merits of the budget, by saying that it has no opposition input on board and has inadequate provisions.
He posited that it is the “all or nothing mentality” that is the hallmark of the political opposition and is further detrimental in administering the affairs of Guyanese and “not grounded in reality.”
Rohee suggested that it was similar “reckless management of our resources” that had seen Guyana ranking as the second poorest state behind Haiti.
He said it is unfortunate that, with the level of resources available to this country, there is still an opposition bent on making cuts to the budget that would, in effect, place workers on the bread line “all because they are power drunk on a one seat majority.”
The Minister of Home Affairs argued that the Guyana situation must been seen in an international context, where, even in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), public servants are being forced to accept wage freezes among other mitigating measures.
STAUNCHEST CRITICS
He said some of the staunchest critics of the government have come out in support of the 2013 Budget, leaving the opposition in a lonely place with its threats.
Rohee lamented the intended cuts to the Citizen Security Programme (CSP) by some $500M, together with the wages and salaries of scores employed at his ministry.
He said he is confident that, presently, there is an air of uncertainty at the ministry because the opposition wants to reduce its staffing quota from 93 to 23 persons.
Rohee wondered how the ministry would, effectively, manage the seven government agencies under its purview with its staff strength completely degutted.
Anthony, who holds the Culture Youth and Sport portfolio, said he was left in bewilderment as he perused some of the proposed cuts and emphasised what he called the opposition contradiction.
He recalled that the opposition has been haggling that not enough is being done to address youth training and employment and that, despite the advocacy, they have proposed to cut a significant chunk of money from what is proposed for those purposes.
Anthony was referring to the $224M that the Alliance for Change (AFC) plans to deduct out of the 2013 Budget.
He reminded that the allocation targeted is for the Board of Industrial Training that falls under the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, noting that, over the past five years, the agency trained almost 9,000 persons, inclusive of youths and single parents.
Anthony said that, across the various government agencies, there are several such programmes that have seen the training of in excess of 15,000 people.
DUAL POSITIONS
Questioned on the seemingly dual positions of government regarding the availability of skills for projects such as the Georgetown Marriott, while it would have been training thousands in the various fields inclusive of heavy duty machinery operations, Dr Anthony responded that a good 90 percent of the graduates have already been placed in employment.
Alluding to the programmes under his ministry, Anthony said that they involve an apprenticeship scheme, which would allow for students to be offered internships, by the end of which 90 percent would be successful in securing jobs.
He said, too, that he was equally bewildered to hear of the proposition to slash $100M from the Sports and Art Development Fund.
Through that allocation, the minister said activities such as the recently resuscitated visual arts competition and the hiring of swimming and boxing coaches were undertaken.
Anthony said it is not a case where the opposition is not aware of the uses of the fund, given that its projects are made public and the second highest ranking member in the opposition benches, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine had been a judge in the recent art competition and, as such, must have known for what the monies are used.
Regarding the cuts that would target the One Laptop per Family (OLPF) through Office of the President, Anthony pointed out that all of the computers for disbursement, this year, have already been purchased.
According to him, the money that the opposition has threatened to block relates to the 2013 distribution of some 27,000 laptops, along with the training of the persons to whom the pieces of equipment are given.
