Dear editor,
THE Guyanese populace has been painfully anticipating the ‘good life’ since the Coalition took office in 2015, but what they had been subjected to was an accelerated and deliberate erosion of that life which they had once experienced under the PPP/C government from 1992 to May 2015. Now after five years of misery and suffering brought upon the Guyanese people by the failed Coalition it is the PPP/C which has once again rescued the nation as it did in 1992 from the depths of deprivation. It is the PPP/C which is once again bringing the ‘good life’ to the Guyanese people, but the Coalition is now playing the ‘saviour’ for what they miserably failed to deliver to Guyanese.
It is interesting to repeat here some of the empty Budget Themes of the Coalition. The 2015 Budget was presented under the theme, ‘A fresh start to the good life in a green economy.’ At the end of 2015 it became clear that the ‘fresh start to a good life’ belonged to Granger, his ministers, families and cronies and the only ‘green’ in sight was the painting on practically everything in sight with the PNC’s colour! Then in 2016 the budget said that the ‘good life beckons.’ But in 2016 the closure of four sugar estates ‘beckoned’ and the ‘beckoning’ and reverberating cries of hunger and poverty from the multitudes of dismissed workers and their families. It was clear that the illusive ‘good life’ having been promised in 2015 became increasingly illusive in 2016 as poverty became a sad reality.

Then again ironically in 2017, the budget claimed to be ‘delivering the good life to all Guyanese,’ but this was amidst a rising cost of living, soaring unemployment and debilitating taxation measures which began wreaking havoc to the disposable incomes of the masses, significantly eroding their standards of living. There was no light at the end of the tunnel as the budgets continued to get bigger and the people continued to get less and less from it. The bribery and corruption reached unprecedented heights as the Auditor General’s report provided documentary evidence of the fraudulent and corrupt activities in every sphere of government. No sector was spared from the devouring Coalition as they rampaged and pillaged in their greed for quick wealth.

Against this background the government in presenting the 2018 budget was audacious enough to tell the Guyanese people that, ‘the journey to the good life continues.’ How can the ‘good life’ be continued when it has never even begun? In fact, ‘even that which they [the people] hath was taken away’ by a greedy, selfish and utterly corrupt government! The Coalition destroyed every socio-economic gain the PPP/C had made, breaking the backs of workers and businesses with more than 200 taxes. It was Sir Winston Churchill who said that, ‘For a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.’ He further reminded governments in the House of Commons on 12th February, 1906, that, ‘Taxes are an evil–a necessary evil– but still an evil, and the fewer we have of them the better.’ Whilst the workers were taxed to the hilt, the GPSU and Yarde remained mum.
But sadly, the Coalition did think Sir Winston was correct and so for five years they ensured they had squandered every dime from the Treasury, running a humongous overdraft of over $90 billion and at the same time dangerously depleting all our reserves. But even this increased and unconscionable taxation was insufficient to satiate their avaricious nature, so they embarked on a series of corrupt practices: ‘gifting’ away our lands; selling our oil patrimony for peanuts; enriching their cronies and families; overriding our procurement laws, violating our Constitution and the rule of law, and attempting barefacedly to rig the 2020 elections in the most disgraceful manner in full view of the world, yet they have the audacity to label the PPP/C government illegal. Whilst all of this was going on, where were the GPSU and Patrick Yarde?

But having failed to rig the elections, they have now embarked on a series of illegal acts to make the country ungovernable as they had promised. The violent protests on the West Coast of Berbice were as a direct result of Granger and Harmon who hailed these protests as the ‘correct response.’ But having failed again to reap their desired results, the PNC/R has now embarked on using the nurses to achieve its political agenda. Now is the time for the GPSU and Yarde to make the dramatically triumphant entry the ‘save’ them.
This current strike by the nurses should be deemed as extremely insensitive, since even though the budget is $329.5 billion, the Coalition had already illegally spent more than $160 billion by August 2nd this year. What had they given to the nurses from this amount? Nothing! The GPSU needs to understand that this 2020 budget has brought many beneficial measures which will not only benefit the nurses, but the entire country. It has started to bring back the good life to all Guyanese. The 2020 budget will see over $20 billion going back into the pockets of the citizens of this country. Over 100 taxes have been reduced and VAT removed from a number of items including water, electricity and education. Pensioners’ subsidies and the school grant have been re-introduced. A COVID-19 $25,000 grant for every household has been implemented and frontline heath workers have been allocated $150 million. The health sector has been allocated $51.7 billion or 15.7% of the budget, including $2.6 billion to boost the health ministry’s COVID-19 response. This is just a minor fraction of the ‘good-life’ measures which the PPP/C has implemented. Mr Yarde must honestly assess these measures. Furthermore, Mr Yarde must be honest as to why he did not pursue the $100,000 risk allowance under the Coalition, when the Coalition was apparently flinging monies wildly in all directions to gain votes. But there are many questions which need to be answered honestly by the GPSU and Yarde with regard to the nurses’ issue.

The nurses have been getting salary increases on a regular basis and it is disappointing that workers in the health-delivery sector can be misled into such a callous strike action, having no regard for the health and safety of people. They should exercise some patience since the 2021 budget is not so far away and their demands will be met in some tangible manner by the government. Today, I was shocked to read that the Critical Care Unit nurses at the GPHC deliberately stayed away from work as a means of protest.
I am appealing to those people who are being misled to understand that if the Coalition had been there for another term, we would have been worse off than under Burnham and they must bear in mind that the Coalition promised the ‘good life,’ but it is the PPP/C which is delivering it once again. Patrick Yarde’s call for a nationwide strike must be seen as not only unsympathetic, but grossly unpatriotic in this time of increasing COVID-19 infections and deaths, to say the least. Let good sense prevail, so that our nation can move forward once again.
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf