— affirms Dr Persaud, defends allocation for social services and other programmes
— upbraids opposition for ‘irresponsible’ utterances

By Navendra Seoraj
THE depths of poverty in Guyana — the renowned breadbasket of the Caribbean — was made known over the past few months, as the country toiled with the effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and a protracted electoral process.

People were suffering, said Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, as she called out the former APNU+AFC administration for ignoring the plight of the people while pursuing their “selfish” intentions of trying to “steal an election.”
“People were suffering, and when I got into the ministry it was emphasised more to me… women came and all they were asking for is food… never again will we allow people to threaten the fabric of democracy and remove the dignity of women folk and their families, especially where there has been an exposure of poverty,” said Dr. Persaud in her vibrant presentation during day three of the Budget 2020 debates.
For anyone to deny what had obtained, they were not being true to themselves, said Dr. Persaud, adding that COVID-19 and its effects on the economy are real.
“To trivialise major occurrences and dismiss the harrowing period of five months, when people had to cope with the economic hardships because of mismanagement, is ludicrous,” the minister said, as she called out the members of the opposition for what she called “irresponsible” utterances, especially about government’s proposed $329.5 billion budget.

Prior to Dr. Persaud’s presentation, Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Dr. Karen Cummings had said government’s budget fails to address the needs of the Guyanese people, as it has nothing to offer.

But contrary to Dr Cummings claims, Dr. Persaud argued that Budget 2020 offers much to Guyanese, as there are a number of good measures and allocations to address critical areas and issues in Guyana.

For the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security alone, government has budgeted over $9 billion. Of this sum, $9,055,856,000 has been allocated for social services and $293,449,000 for child care and protection.

This, Dr. Persaud contended, shows vision. And, she believes that the people of Guyana are impatient and have high expectations, especially because they would like to see the reversal of the “misfortune” that they faced for the past five years and a return of the “prosperous opportunities for all Guyanese”.
At the same time, she said Guyanese expect maturity, political will and desire to support any initiative that will benefit people, something which is said to be absent in the opposition side of the House.

DISSERVICE
“If we move away from what people of this country expect then we would have failed…when you bring acrimony and irresponsible statements to this house, it does your constituency a disservice; you need to instead think about what you can do to move them upwards and elevate their lives,” said Dr. Persaud, as she challenged the opposition to be mature.
The minister continued by saying: “We just got here, you (APNU+AFC) were here for five years… so what you did was to tell us what your inadequacies are, and showed us the gaps and told us how you failed the people of Guyana.”
Work has already commenced to fill those gaps, said Dr. Persaud, adding that there are many ‘ground-breaking’ programmes in the budget, targetting the most vulnerable persons in society.

One particular area of focus is women, as there has been no movement on the Guyana Women’s Leadership Initiative over the past five years.
Minister Persaud said her immediate plan, through this initiative, is to introduce two programmes which will benefit over 200 women, and will focus on dealing with their immediate needs. Among the areas of focus are the provision of food; feminine and dignity care; and the creation of opportunities for women to be part of the working world and have financial independence.
Members on the opposition side heckled as the minister laid out this aspect of her plan, but Dr. Persaud again criticised them for treating serious issues that deal with vulnerabilities with a cavalier manner.
Despite the interruptions, she said government will be rolling initiatives which benefit supporters of every political party and persons from all walks of life.
Unlike the Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) programme, which provided persons with large sums of money without an application, the new government will have system-based governance which ensures that people have equal access and opportunities, said Dr. Persaud.

EMPOWERMENT
Instead of creating a system which has persons waiting on a handout, the minister plans to teach, train and empower people.
Reorganisation and restructuring of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has already started, and Minister Persaud assured that she was being guided by studies done by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Prior to the new government’s election to office, those vital studies were resting on a shelf, said the minister, adding that they were ignored although they focused on social expenditure, poverty, and the strengthening of institutions and organisations.
“We will act on them…heads of my programmes also have a number of programmes waiting for approval,” said Dr. Persaud.
In the area of child care, there will be more child advocacy centres; one-stop-shops for children; and even a virtual rally to engage children amidst COVID-19.
Government has also budgeted $22 million to provide essential child care services to essential workers. This will be offered to both the public and private sector workers.
Government will also be investing in the area of training, re-training and scholarships so that technical vacancies in Dr. Persaud’s ministry can be filled.
At the same time, money has been allocated for the rehabilitation of night shelters. These facilities have been neglected for years, said Dr. Persaud.
This is all part of the minister’s vision of creating an equal environment for all, as she believes that no community should be oppressed or suppressed.
From young to old will benefit, said the minister, noting that old age pension will be increased from January 2021, and pensioners will benefit from free water.
Considering these and other measures, Minister Persaud, in a direct message to the opposition, said: “instead of being disparaging, instead of treating budget like it has nothing to offer, walk with us and let us make people’s lives better.”
She believes that the movement from 2020 to 2021 should be seen as a journey of healing, and not division.