— Vice-President Jagdeo

VICE-PRESIDENT, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, on Friday, called on the members of the International Decade of People of African Descent Assembly– Guyana (IDPADA-G) to explain how Afro-Guyanese have benefitted from the $468.438 million that it has received from the government.

IDPADA-G received the accumulated amount over the past five years.
Created in 2018, the IDPADA-G, in the national budget, through the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, received $68.438 million in 2018 and $100 million in each successive year, including the 2020, 2021 and 2022 budgets under the PPP/C Government.

Dr. Jagdeo, at a press conference held on Friday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), noted that the organisation has never submitted a work plan to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports while the last financial statement submitted by the organisation for 2020 shows a significant portion of the budgeted funds going to overhead expenses, with less than $500,000 going to direct disbursements to Guyanese.

“This is their financial statement for 2020… salaries and allowances $42 million, conference expenses, $4.5 million, travelling and transportation $2.8 million, advertisement $2 million, office material and expenses $9 million, building rental and utilities $5 million, disbursement of grant fund, how much they give out in grants to Afro Guyanese, $343,000 disbursement of grant of the $100 million for 2020,” Dr. Jagdeo revealed as he read from the financial statement.

In defending the PPP/C Government’s record on upliftment of Afro-Guyanese, Dr. Jagdeo pointed out that in just two years, Afro-Guyanese have benefited from more scholarships through the government’s Guyana Online Learning Academy (GOAL) and more house lot allocations compared to what obtained in the five years under the previous APNU+AFC Government.

MUST ACCOUNT
Dr. Jagdeo called on Afro Guyanese to lobby the IDPADA-G to answer to Guyanese for how the money was spent.
“I would like them [IDPADA-G] to have a press conference so they can tell the people of this country what they have done with the nearly half a billion in money they’ve received and how much was utilised in the interest of ordinary Afro-Guyanese in this country. Who receive all of this money? Nearly half a billion dollars,” Dr. Jagdeo questioned.

IDAPA-G was created as the local coordinating mechanism for activities under the United Nations resolution dedicating a decade (2015 – 2024) to addressing the challenges confronting people of African Descent globally. The organisation is registered as a private limited liability company, with the principals including Vincent Alexander and Dr. Norman T. Ng-A-Qui.

The organisation consists of the General Assembly, a Co-ordinating Council, a Secretariat and Sub-committees, and is expected to promote economic advancement and empowerment of Afro-Guyanese.
Dr. Jagdeo raised questions about the organisation as he addressed accusations of discrimination of Afro-Guyanese under the PPP/C, by several of the principals of IDPADA-G, who are listed as speakers at an upcoming event to be held by the Cuffy 250 Committee titled “Resisting the emerging apartheid state”.

Dr. Jagdeo questioned the rationale behind the reference to “apartheid” given that IDPADA-G has received some $300 million under the PPP/C Government for its advancement.
“This is doing a disservice to apartheid and the struggles of the South African people. They don’t know what apartheid is. This apartheid Government is giving them over $200 million since they got into office to displace the apartheid Government. All they are interested in is creating trouble in the country and for their personal financial benefit. They don’t care about any cause,” Dr. Jagdeo posited.

CONSTERNATION
Last week, banker and financial expert, Floyd Haynes expressed consternation that his name was included on a list of speakers at the Cuffy 250 Committee-organised event.
Haynes, in a letter to chairman of the committee, Dr Norman Ng-A-Qui, said he was not asked formally or informally to be part of the programme and called for his name to be removed from an advertisement circulated by the Cuffy 250 Committee with immediate effect.
“Moreover, I completely reject the phrase ‘resisting the emerging apartheid state’ to describe conditions in Guyana. In my view, this statement is a disservice to all Guyanese, as such I wish to categorically disassociate myself from it. More importantly, I am a firm supporter of His Excellency, the President of Guyana and I am absolutely convinced that it is not part of the President’s agenda to create any disparity based on race,” said Haynes.
Apartheid was a system of institutionalised, legislated racial oppression that existed in South Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s.