By Lisa Hamilton, Vishani Ragobeer
COMING out of the presentation of Budget 2019 pegged the highest ever at $300.7B, several ministers of government were proud to throw their support behind the allocations that spread across a vast array of sectors.
On the Parliament corridors on Monday evening, they also pinpointed areas within their ministries which, with the push of greater finances, will receive the additional attention they need.

Senior and Junior Ministers of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson and Annette Ferguson, both expressed their excitement to begin and continue addressing the infrastructural projects highlighted in the estimates.
“We’re absolutely pleased with it because most of my key target areas have been given significant increase,” Patterson said, naming as an example the $2.9B budget for roads, an increase of 36.3 per cent.

He also highlighted the allocations to the Linden to Lethem road; the roads between Wisroc and Mile Zero; the all-weather transportation road corridor from Parika to Bartica, as well as other street lighting and drainage projects.
“I would be able to do a lot more next year for various communities and that was one of the issues we heard when we were [campaigning for] Local Government Elections,” he said.

EVERYONE REPRESENTED
Meanwhile, Ferguson commented: “Budget 2019 has great prospects not only for the public

servants or the teachers; it also captures the elderly, the less fortunate, the vulnerable and youths. I’m happy that provisions are there for the youths, so I want to make this appeal to young people that if you have initiatives and ideas, with Budget 2019 you should make full use of it. “I am excited that for public infrastructure we would have gotten 23 per cent more than last year, so in 2019 we would be doing more than what we would have done in 2018.”

HIGHER TAXES FOR TOBACCO
In his presentation to the House, Finance Minister Winston Jordan had announced that there will be an increase on the taxes and duties on cigarettes in Guyana.
The move comes at the background of the recently established Tobacco Control Act, which takes effect in 2019, aims to protect present and future generations from the harms of and exposure to tobacco smoke.

On the sidelines, he told the newspaper that another strong motivator of the tax increase is, to deter persons from smuggling tobacco to Guyana from neighbouring countries. “Demerara Tobacco Limited is complaining that they have to pay all the taxes while people are bringing in smuggled cigarettes. So, we had to find another mechanism of stopping smuggling beyond just trying to catch them [smugglers], when they’re coming through Suriname and so forth,” Jordan said.

Where, for 2019, the Government has increased minimum wage for public servants to $64,200 per month along with several tax exemptions catering for Persons With Disabilities (PWDs); remigrants and others, the finance minister said: “Now that we don’t have to cater for GuySuCo with these heavy transfers…we can use the space now to give back a little bit here and there, by giving some to the pensioners; giving some to the workers [and] to teachers who got a bit more than the regular public servants.

“We’ve removed VAT in various areas to help stimulate growth in some areas and in other areas where we feel persons, particularly with disabilities or so on, who are not getting the good life or that same good life we’re trying to see how we can help them out.”

PEOPLE-ORIENTED
Meanwhile, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan dubbed Budget 2019 as, “an extremely comprehensive set of measures” which will ensure future development in Guyana.

“It is very much people oriented in my opinion because a lot is there for youths, the disabled, the public servants and even business. More specifically in my ministry, more or less, all that I had asked for I’ve gotten,” he said. Some of these that he listed included, the reconstruction of the New Amsterdam Prison; expansion of the Mazaruni Prison Complex and the Lusignan Prison facility and the construction of the new Georgetown Prison. Added to this, he spoke on the installation of 100 wireless-enabled cameras in and around Georgetown, and which is set to commence in 2019 as part of the soon-to-be-introduced Safe City Solution.

The cameras will feed into a command centre that will be established for the Guyana Police Force (GPF). “We have cameras around town now, but we’ll be having an additional 100 in and around the hot spots in the city, so that we’ll focus in a very multidimensional way… [on] crime and traffic because traffic, when you breach it, is also a crime. So, it is for that and also for a deterring effect on those who like to commit these crimes,” Ramjattan remarked.

Speaking generally on the budget, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings said: “I think the budget is really a citizen- centered budget [because] each citizen will benefit from this budget.” According to her, the budget seeks to allay the concerns of many Guyanese, while simultaneously going the extra mile to ensure that a ‘good life’ is ensured for all.

In so doing, she noted that the budget took aim at catering for the improvement of health services countrywide. “[This budget] shows the political commitment of our government, to show that in health we have equitable governance and we link the hinterland to the coastland in terms of the distribution of healthcare – which is affordable for all,” she explained.

About the sector areas of which she has oversight, the minister noted that the budget addresses preparedness in relation to natural disasters, looking after the vulnerable and ensuring that hinterland communities also have equal access to services.

Of key importance is the concerted effort being placed on curbing maternal deaths and promoting good mental health. According to Minister Cummings, the government is making every effort to ensure that maternal and neonatal mortality is reduced, since this is a huge bugbear- particularly in the hinterland. To address this, she directed focus to Minister Jordan’s announcement that ‘waiting homes’ will be established to cater for high-risk patients so that deaths of mothers and patients can be prevented.

And, as it relates to mental health, she shared that she is especially pleased that there will be greater collaboration between the health and education ministries. “We have issues in the home like domestic violence and abuse, and even though they don’t speak out much, indirectly children are affected,” she posited. Through the mechanism, it is the government’s hope that more psycho-social support can be provided to children and young adults, to really focus on improving mental health.

EQUITY AND INCLUSIVITY
The 2019 Budget also places great focus on the development of communities in the areas of social cohesion, health, infrastructure and education, which coincide with a portion of the theme ‘Building Sustainable Communities for the Good Life’.

“I am proud of this budget,” said Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan. “This is a budget that continues to invest in growth and development. This is a budget that I believe is characterised by equity and inclusivity.”

He noted the many improvements which are expected such as measures to improve water, sanitation and waste management, with $841M for the national solid waste programme and $2.9B for water supply and distribution.
In 2019, $375 M will also be used to equip 20 hinterland communities with ICT hubs, via satellite, benefitting over 11,390 residents while $101M will be used to continue the hinterland electrification programme.

Bulkan said: “All in all there are numerous positive measures and I agree with the Minister’s [Jordan] characterisation that this budget can bare the hashtag ‘Invest in People’, and it continues to invest in the growth and development of our country.”