…PM rips opposition budget contributions
…says PPP lust for power will not change benefits for citizens

PRIME Minister Moses Nagamootoo on Friday flayed the opposition for what he called their “cold, fairytale speeches” on the budget, asserting that provisions in the budget will benefit the lives of all and negative speeches and the lust for power by the opposition will not change this.

He told the House during the closing stages of the budget debate that the 2019 estimates like previous budgets under the APNU+AFC government find ways and means of helping all communities in becoming cleaner, healthier and models of what can be done in Guyana.

The prime minister said the budget benefits all strata of society and every geographic region; and it is within the budget that monies are found to maintain several constitutional agencies, such as parliament and the judiciary.

The PM explained that under the PPP there was a practice of political interference when even the chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Guyana Elections Commission were subservient to a minister’s discretion. “If the elections commission wanted money to do anything, to ensure the integrity of the electoral process for which they are commanded by the constitution, they had to take their hats out and go to a minister of government or the Head of the Presidential Secretariat back then, and even if the chancellor wishes for a judge to travel overseas, they would have had to go to a subject minister because monies were coming from the budget agency and you know the old saying he who pays the piper calls the tune, so justice could have been compromised if you had this type of political control over the constitutional bodies ” Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo said.

Lust for power
The prime minister said under the APNU+AFC government many constitutional bodies were guaranteed their financial autonomy. The leader of government’s business said the PPP/C has attacked the budget with old-style politics, but the content of the budget will benefit the lives of all and negative speeches and the lust for power by the opposition will not change the benefits that citizens will experience.

“There were no honest, sincere, positive contributions on how we can improve on the budget or the next budget, since we always welcome ideas, but we have seen the opposition at its worst ever, we have heard the noisy, insulting and disrespectful tones of contributions and the huff and puff, the distorted facts and untruths of old and cold speeches of a fairytale,” the prime minister noted. He said based on the PPP’s perspective, they should remain in opposition since “a good term of opposition deserves another.”

Sugar industry rescued
Turning his attention to the sugar industry, which he referred to as the ‘whipping boy’ for the opposition, Mr Nagamootoo stated that it was never the intention of the current administration to close several sugar estates across the country. He remarked it should be understood that this matter had been carefully deliberated by Cabinet. The PM said that the government was “carrying this industry” however, their “interest was to save it.” “It needs to be explained to Guyanese sugar workers that this is a government that has thought over the matter, brought a green paper to this National Assembly having first established a commission of inquiry to look into the problems of the sugar industry.”

It was after this that the decision was made to “modernise and transform the industry, and put finances and capital into the three estate factories that could survive.” Prime Minister Nagamootoo reminded the National Assembly of a feasibility study done in 2000 concerning the sugar industry which showed that the “estate should be concentrated in East Berbice where it is better suited for cane cultivation.” He remarked that it was the previous administration who caused the industry to collapse as they did not heed the advice from the study. According to the prime minister, after the coalition assumed office in 2015, the Cabinet spent “days, weeks and months agonising on how to deal with the tragedy of the sugar industry.”

“It had become unstainable to operate the sugar industry without bringing the entire economy down!” Prime Minister Nagamootoo remarked. It was highlighted that alternatives were made available for the retrenched workers and government was prepared to pay workers their severance, but it was the PPP/C aligned Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union who stopped the process from going forward. “They filed a court action and got an injunction that the severance should not be paid and they were consulted.”
The prime minister further explained that the union wanted outstanding payments to be deducted before the workers received their benefits. He noted that the government kept to their agreement and paid the sugar workers as soon as a ruling was made.

Bigger pay for public servants

Additionally, the prime minister said it was difficult to make sense of this political “nihilism” by the opposition as he referred to their continuous description of the budget as visionless and lacking in investments. According to Prime Minister Nagamootoo, the opposition’s rejection is confusing as they seek to condemn the very thing they wish to advocate … “jobs for citizens.”
“The opposition during these debates say there are no jobs”…but the opposition opposes $16 Billion set aside for public servants …they condemn the very thing they are advocating for.” Prime Minister Nagamootoo said. The salary for public servants has increased; the new minimum wage is 60 thousand dollars. This is an increase of four thousand four hundred and forty-five dollars ($4,445)
Prime Minister Nagamootoo went on to state that the budget will not only benefit public servants, but will also aid in the alleviation of food shortages, as much emphasis has been placed on agricultural development. “Monies from the 300.7-billion-dollar budget ensures that the programmes in health, education, housing, water and security sectors are adequately funded, “jobs must be maintained” …. “In this budget, Agriculture will get a big boost, securing the livelihoods of our farmers,” says the prime minister.

Better position
Touching on the quality of life of Guyanese, Prime Minister Nagamootoo told the House that the country is in a better position today than it was under the previous administration. Citing a 2011 Ram and McRae Report which spoke to a mountain of corruption, and also stated that “Guyana could not even make its integrity commission functional”, the prime minister rebuked the opposition’s accusations of corruption within this current administration.
He noted that it was the coalition that has made greater efforts to clamp down on corruption. “We revived the integrity commission” … “today we have a functioning integrity commission that is asking and going after the declaration of assets and incomes of public officials”

Addressing the Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo who had left the chambers, Prime Minister Nagamootoo said according to the 2011 report, his presidency was riddled with corruption. “Ram and McRae said this …they concluded that the (2011) Executive Presidency was synonymous with dictatorship.”

The prime minister said that even though the damage done to the country under the PPP/C has left scars, the coalition government remains committed to fighting corruption as it “hinders economic growth and development and undermines public confidence in the administration.

Lopsided agreement
Meanwhile, Jagdeo lambasted government during his contribution to the 2019 budget debate, noting that there are no measures in the budget for lowering the balance-of-payment deficits, or what he termed other worrying economic indices. He noted that there have been reductions in spending on sectors like health and the Director of Public Prosecutions, compared to previous years. However, Jagdeo referenced the increases in non-essential areas. In addition, the opposition leader stated that certain measures and legislative reversals are a recipe for corruption. Jagdeo also hit the government for what he called the lopsided agreements with oil companies.