THE massive developmental projects embarked on by the Government of Guyana are designed to modernise the country and upgrade the quality of life of the Guyanese people.

And the Opposition “attacks” on these endeavours are an attack on the well-being of the Guyanese people.
These were the sentiments expressed by General Secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee, at the party’s weekly press briefing at Freedom House.
“Which party that truly and genuinely cares for the well-being of the Guyanese people would stand in the way of projects, such as the Amaila Falls Hydro power, which is designed to provide the Guyanese people with cheap and reliable power, while at the same time boosting the competiveness of the country’s manufacturing sector?” he questioned.
He added, “Which caring political party would block the construction of a Specialty Hospital which is intended to provide specialized medical care to the Guyanese people at affordable cost?
“Which political party worth its salt would refuse to provide parliamentary support to the expansion and modernisation of its international airport and a spanking and modern Marriot Hotel, which would make Guyana more tourism friendly and serve to attract more visitors to the country?
“Which political party that cares about the future of this country and its people would blackmail the country and jeopardise the country’s national interests by refusing to lend support to legislation necessary to protect the integrity and credit-worthiness of the country.”

ANTI-PEOPLE APPROACH
According to him, the joint Opposition’s attacks on developmental projects undertaken by the PPP/C Government have not escaped the party’s attention.
“It has not escaped the attention of the PPP that the APNU (A Partnership for National Unity) and its underling, the AFC (Alliance For Change), are in a deliberate and calculated manner targeting those projects that are designed to impact directly on the well-being of the Guyanese people,” he said.
To this end, he surmised that the combined Opposition’s approach to development is an “anti-people” one.
The PPP General-Secretary said, “The PNC (People’s National Congress) and its political acolytes have clearly embraced an approach to politics that is clearly anti-national and anti-people. It has declared its willingness to sacrifice the good of the country on the altar of narrow partisan self-interest. Its political behaviour can at best be described as infantile, which is not only dysfunctional, but reactionary and destructive in terms of advancing our national patrimony.”

NO MORAL STANDING
According to Rohee, unlike the PPP, the PNC lacks the moral right to pronounce on, much less to criticise, the current administration, given its track record in Government.
He said, “Guyana (was reduced) to “a laughing stock” in the Region and beyond because of mismanagement and incompetence; billions of dollars went down the drain on several ill-conceived projects which never saw the light of day
“Guyanese still recall with disdain the upper Mazaruni (UMDA) hydro-electric project, the glass factory, the leather factory, the Sanata Cotton Complex and several others which were aborted, despite the fact that hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars were spent on them.”
The PPP General-Secretary recounted the consequences of the PNC rule, which included a huge debt burden that turned out to be an “albatross around the necks of the Guyanese people” and stultified economic and social progress.
“(This was) the greater part of our post-independence history, until the PPP was returned to office when significant debt relief, progress and prosperity once again returned to the country,” he stressed.
On that note, Rohee assured that the ruling party will not allow the “development momentum” propelled by the PPP/C Administration to be derailed by threats and political blackmail by those who were responsible in the first place for the destruction of the economic and social fabric of the Guyanese society.