How do Guyanese feel about Budget 2021?

ON Friday afternoon, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, presented the 2021 National Budget, which has been pegged at $383.1B. It was prepared under the theme: “A path to recovery: Economic dynamism and resilience” and notably, it is being financed with no new taxes.

As part of the budget, billions of dollars were allocated to various sectors and a number of budgetary measures were introduced to provide disposable income to citizens and help stimulate the economy. Following the presentation of the budget, the Guyana Chronicle asked various Guyanese what were their thoughts on this budget.

? Govena Deonarine, Food Processing Technician living on the Essequibo Coast
As a young person [listening] to the budget was quite refreshing for me, especially to hear of the many plans for the agro-processing sector through the Ministry of Agriculture. I am also pleased with the announcement for the construction of the Abram Zuil Secondary School; that is my former school and going there was a lot of challenges. I am happy finally it will be built. I am happy that there is a lot of opportunities for youths especially with the establishment of call centres and also programmes through the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

? Joel Simpson, Managing Director of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)

I think the 2021 budget does have some positives for the average person and a couple of good new initiatives that I see for the average person, just from a preliminary review of the budget that was presented (on Friday) at Parliament.
Some of the things are the ceiling being raised for low interest loans. I see that in terms of public assistance vulnerable persons, who are subjected to acts of discrimination, can receive a Public Assistance of $12,000; it’s not a huge sum but everything counts… I think the other measures for vulnerable groups (like) the school children cash grant for $15,000. I think that will really help to support the average person and vulnerable people in society so that parents who are struggling can help to keep their children in school. As a whole, though, I don’t feel it’s completely a people’s budget or it is a budget that is very much people-centred. My sense so far is that it is focused on a couple of macro area… And while these things are important, I think the predominant focus on those macro areas don’t necessarily mean that the average person will receive any direct benefit in terms of income and support that they receive…. I think not enough has been done.

I think the support for HIV issues and mental health have also been highlighted as receiving some attention and I think that is very important because Guyana has very high suicide rate, one of the highest in the world, and we have found in our work that the COVID-19 pandemic really added an extra burden and other stressors for LGBTQ people and just vulnerable people in general. Guyana has very, very limited mental health support and services which are freely available. We don’t have enough trained psychologists in the country to service the population and we certainly don’t have them in the public sector, so I am happy to see that mental health is a focus and also that there will be new initiatives for the HIV response, in particular, we’re looking forward to the rollout of Pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) in the public health system for free and also the initiative for HIV self-testing to make testing more accessible.

? Mahindra Sharma, Teacher from Spring Gardens, Essequibo

Having listened to the Budget speech, I think the most exciting news for Essequibians is the construction of the Abram Zuil Secondary School and also the construction of a drying floor. These projects are long-awaited ones… I am also happy that the public assistance and the pension has increased. Parents are in to benefit also by receiving $15,000 per child; this will particularly encourage them to send their children to school. I like the idea of creating jobs for the young people by opening call centres. Overall, I think it was a good budget that caters for all.

? Parmanand Singh- HOD (ag) Modern Foreign Languages Department, Abram Zuil Secondary School Teacher.
Having listened to the 2021 National Budget, I am delighted to have learned that Abram Zuil Secondary will have a new building this year. This new building was a promise made by the previous administration but never materialized. I am positive that the parents, teachers, students, and all other stakeholders will be overwhelmed by the government’s generous gesture. This new building will improve all teachers’ and students’ learning environment, promote better student academic performances, and contribute to further academic progress. Also, since this institution accommodates approximately 600 students and providing a conducive environment is of paramount importance, I wish to recommend that the relevant authority identifies a suitable venue for our occupancy during this new school’s construction.
On behalf of the staff, students, parents, and other stakeholders of the Abram Zuil Secondary School, I extend our sincere gratitude to the honorable Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, and the Guyana Government for this ‘blessing.’

? George Chesney, 85-year-old retired man living in Christiansburg, Linden
(The budget is) wonderful, great… the best I’ve ever heard. The assistance for the senior citizens, that one was one of the most important parts for me; I really like that part. The aspects about agriculture, to help farmers and so on were great and there were other aspects that were very, very encouraging. I loved every part of it, there wasn’t any part that was against it for me, but I would have to sit down and read it more myself to digest it more. But it’s ok for me so far, everything was encouraging.

? Manley Thomas, Aishalton, Region Nine
As an Amerindian, I am very grateful that the government has given us a lump sum of money to resuscitate certain projects and rehabilitate projects that would also have gone under the last government. Moreso, I’d like to stress on the Community Service Officers (CSOs) that they will be hiring again. When you look at it in a long term basis, the generating of income will now be able to flow and it will be more sustainable since persons will be able to be employed, get jobs on the flow, the circulation of the money will be there, the village economies will grow and once the village economies grow, the district economy begins to grow and then the region and then the country.

In terms of my area, we’re looking forward to so many things, but once we don’t have the proper management, those things wouldn’t manifest. I’m going to ensure that I play my part, as a young leader, so that the projects at the government level can manifest for the people.

? Susan Mohese, rice farmer
We don’t know what’s the allocation that they are going to give to the regions, but the Agriculture Minister said that he will be doing work on all weather roads. We have 13 dams and we need all weather roads. A lot of money has been allocated to agriculture, but we will have to wait and see for the regional breakdown.

? Tanya Niamatali, meteorologist and resident of New Amsterdam, Berbice
What was delivered to the nation yesterday was most definitely expected and, as a young Guyanese, I welcome the budget with open arms. I am delighted to see that $60 billion will be spent on the education sector, while parallel in the health sector, in my opinion, is definitely important. I am also happy to see that one billion went directly for 4500 scholarships. Be it online or not, I can assure you many youngsters will be able to finally achieve a degree or diploma they always had their mind on. It would be unfair of me to not comment on the agriculture sector since I am employed in that sector. I am very much certain that the sum allocated towards the agri industry will be spent wisely and will ensure that agriculture is where it should be in the country. Overall, this year will be an exciting one for all Guyanese, we will all benefit from the budget presented and it will make our lives better.

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