–Dr Jagdeo says; highlights the slew of ‘distorted’ rhetoric in articles
PEOPLE’S Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday called out Kaieteur News for its frequent “distortion” of facts.
During a press conference at Freedom House, Dr Jagdeo brought to light numerous stories that the entity published with untruths in them.

“For those who may [have] just come to Guyana or those who are reading a newspaper for the first time, they may think that these are new issues. Those of us who have been here in Guyana for a while and have been familiar with what’s going on, they’d recognise that they’re just a rehash…,” he said.

Dr. Jagdeo referenced several articles which addressed Guyana’s economy, pointing out that in one article, the newspaper attempted to paint the picture that Guyanese are dependent on their relatives abroad to survive.

He challenged this stance and maintained: “People are now seeing more business opportunities here when they remit money to the country; they are not remitting it to their relatives to eat. They’re remitting money often as an investment in the country and we’ve seen a serious growth from our diaspora investments in the country.”

As the economy continues to expand along with the investment climate, the diaspora has been capitalising on these opportunities. Dr Jagdeo, while pointing out the loopholes within the narrative that the newspaper is peddling, said that it is evident that the truth does not interest Kaieteur News.

“[The] truth is not what Kaieteur News is looking for,” he related
Staying on the topic of the economy, he addressed the comments made by the newspaper on the 6.5 per cent increase for public servants, across the board.

In order to create a sustainable future, Dr Jagdeo once again underscored that critical analysis of the current economy and certain actions are needed. He said that one cannot splurge on one item but instead, there must be planning.

Notably, the increase benefitted public servants, teachers, members of the Disciplined Services, constitutional officeholders, and government pensioners. It was granted retroactively from January 1, 2023.
The consequential salary adjustments benefitted over 54,000 persons and placed an additional $7.5 billion in disposable income into the pockets of those employees.

He then turned his attention to a story by Kaieteur News titled, “$108 billion in taxes waived for oil companies in 2022.” Dr Jagdeo said that the benefits that oil giant, ExxonMobil is currently receiving is derived from the lopsided contract signed by the APNU+AFC government, and he also clarified that the traditional sectors enjoy fiscal concessions, not just oil and gas companies.

Dr. Jagdeo said: “Last week, I dealt with that and how taxes are levied… I want to repeat again for the people who are serious about this matter, they can go back to my comments last week and see that almost all companies in Guyana, in the manufacturing sector, in mining, in tourism, almost all of the production sectors in the economy, agriculture included, they enjoy fiscal concessions.

“They get waivers on machinery and equipment, they get waivers on buildings, they get waivers on things that they often bring in for operations… not just oil and gas companies.”