MINISTER within the Ministry of Finance, Juan Edghill has condemned the statements attributed to A Partnership for National Unity’s Shadow Minister of Finance, Carl Greenidge published by the Kaieteur News on March 17, 2014. The article was titled “Despite distractions, Opposition remains focus on 2014 National Budget – Greenidge threatens “nasty or bloody war.”

In an invited comment to the Government Information Agency, Edghill stated that, “It is regrettable that one, who has been elected to the National Assembly as a policy maker and as a legislator, would even descend to such a level without even seeing or hearing the budget, to predict that it would be a nasty bloody war.”
“It is clear that Mr. Greenidge’s politics is fuelled by bitterness. He is a man that is responding to grudges, and he is not objective in his participation in the whole process,” the minister added.
He explained that the comments were made before Greenidge has actually seen, heard or understood the 2014 budget, “you are already predicting a nasty or bloody war, it means that nothing that is said in the National Assembly in the debate, or nothing that is said during the time of response to questions in the Committee of Supply, will satisfy him, because his position is already prejudiced, it’s already determined even before having the necessary information.”
The minister also assured citizens that Guyanese can expect a people centred budget that focuses on the needs of the people, their communities, their livelihood, their future, and ensuring that Guyana’s development is accelerated.

“We are not dismayed or disillusioned or discouraged by the constant attacks that have been waging on the developmental agenda of the PPP/C. We are determined that we will continue to march forward resolutely, embracing the people, embracing the realities of Guyana, and ensuring that Guyana is that prosperous nation that we are all dreaming about,” the minister declared.
‘To the people of Guyana, I want to say to you, while Mr. Greenidge is predicting a nasty bloody war, I am letting you know that you will have something to be happy about in your Government, because we will be letting you know how we have managed over the past year and we will be asking you to embrace us as we continue to carry Guyana’s developmental agenda forward,” Minister Edghill concluded.
The article published by Kaieteur News had stated that APNU warned that it remains steadfast in its intentions to either chop or trim the estimates where necessary and that there have been absolutely no talks on the budget between APNU and the government leading up to the imminent presentation. It also added that “…it may very well be a nasty or bloody war when it is presented to the Parliament…”
The Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh had written the opposition parties inviting them to budget talks, but they did not take up the invitation. In the latter part of 2013, the ministry initiated talks with the Opposition on the 2014 Budget. On January 13 last, the minister again invited the opposition parties to Budget talks.
Several other groups have met with the minister and other officials of the ministry including the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG). (GINA)