–Dr. Jagdeo says, dismantles false Opposition claims that the country is flush with oil money

THE talk of oil-wealth distribution has been central among political antagonists, who are putting forth the most impractical plans, which, according to People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo gives the impression that Guyana is “flush” with oil revenue.
Critics of the government are using buzzwords to convince ordinary Guyanese that they can live an extravagant life, even without working, just because of the nation’s oil wealth.

During his weekly press conference, Dr. Jagdeo dismantled these theories, and disclosed that 100 per cent of oil wealth distribution to citizens would leave Guyanese with only $29,000.
Further, he pointed to Kaieteur News Publisher, Glen Lall, as being one of the persons who are concocting these unfeasible theories to Guyanese.

Adding to this, he grilled the Opposition for using the excuse that the ruling PPP/C has access to oil revenues, when it attempts to justify its poor performance in office from 2015-2020.
In this regard, Dr. Jagdeo has consistently pointed out that not only does the oil revenue fund less than 30 per cent of this year’s budget, but prior to the discovery of oil wealth, the PPP, when in office, had revived a country that was placed into an economic pitfall by the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR).
Dr. Jagdeo said: “So, let’s do some mathematics today, so that people can understand how much money we really have. So, you know, in the budget, we have $300 billion this year from oil money, about US$1.5 billion, if you divide that by 850,000, and then divide that by 12, you’ll come up to a monthly number of 29,000 Guyana dollars.
“So, if we stop building roads, we stop building schools, we stop building health centres, we stop increasing pensioners’ money [and] we take away the children’s grant. We stop doing everything else, and we give every Guyanese 100 per cent of all the money in the budget this year, it works out to 29,000 Guyana dollars per month.”

He then called for those detractors of development to do the “math”. This kind of dystopia that critics are implanting in the minds of Guyanese leave no room for the government to do infrastructural works, provide cheaper electricity, or even enhance healthcare, and, according to the PPP General Secretary, in the long-run, the country would fall, owing to the standstill of development.
Previously, Dr. Jagdeo had provided an in-depth analysis of various current issues, and elaborated on the government’s successful efforts at maintaining a sustainable economy.
The PPP General Secretary, who also serves as Guyana’s Vice-President, had pointed out that public sector wages and salaries, in Central Government, public corporation and statutory bodies, have grown from 2020-2024 by $90 billion.
Added to this, he said that the pension has grown by approximately $20 billion.

Within a short span of three years, the current administration, under the leadership of Dr. Irfaan Ali, has taken significant steps to enhance the welfare of the elderly population. An example of such a measure is the increase of the old-age pension to $36,000 upon the passing of Budget 2024. The amount had stood at $20,500 at the commencement of the government’s term in 2020.
Under the previous APNU+AFC government, the pension in 2015 moved from $13,125 to $17,000.
In 2016, it increased from $17,000 to $18,200, and in 2017, it went from $18,200 to $19,000.

Further, old-age pension increased from 19,000 to 19,500 in 2018; just $500 more. And in 2019, despite passing a $300.7 billion budget, the elderly only saw $1,000 more on their pension; the final figure being $20,500.
Aside from direct cash transfers, other measures that senior citizens have benefitted from include the reintroduction of water subsidy, which has benefitted over 27,000 pensioners, and provided them with an additional disposable income of $200 million per annum.
While highlighting some other initiatives by the government that have contributed to improving the well-being of citizens’ lives, he turned his attention to the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant.
This year, the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant has been increased to $40,000, coupled with the $5,000 uniform allowance, placing over $9 billion into the pockets of many parents.

Last year, a total of 201,281 public and private school children benefitted from the initiative, which saw some $8.1 billion being expended. The undertaking fits into the PPP/C government’s promise to provide financial support to families, improve attendance, and promote better attentiveness at school.
Speaking more on measures by the government, he then noted, “$200 billion has been spent on developing 40,000 house lots. The cost of developing one of those house lots is about $5 million,” while explaining that the house lots are being sold for way less.
“Where do you think this is going back? It’s to our people,” he said.

He also noted that healthcare is being boosted under this government and 12 new state-of-the art hospitals are being built across the country.