–Dr. Jagdeo emphasises; reminds citizens of APNU+AFC’s harassment of people, lavish spending on themselves
NO citizen who has seriously examined the opposition’s slate would entrust Guyana’s future to them, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has said.
Dr. Jagdeo, during a press conference on Thursday, reminded Guyanese of the hardships they faced under the APNU+AFC from 2015-2020, and every other time there was stagnation when the PNC/R, which was a major party in the coalition, was in office.
He said: “We have already demonstrated that no person who has carefully thought out the issue, no Guyanese of any race or religion or gender who has carefully examined their slate would ever want to risk their future by voting for them. They have no capability to plan nor do they have any capability to handle the complex tasks of governing the country.”
The General Secretary, who also serves as Guyana’s Vice-President, laid out how unqualified and ill-equipped the leadership of APNU is.
“How could anyone in their right sense want to entrust the future of our country in the hands of neophytes? And it puts all of us at risk,” he contended.
Dr. Jagdeo further said that the opposition has resurrected its messaging of the past, once again promising a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into extra-judicial killings.
He reminded: “You remember in 2015 that was promised too? And what did Granger say? Granger said, oh, I can’t pursue it because it’s difficult to do it. There are no witnesses, there is no evidence. That’s the exact quote from Granger.”
Instead of following through on their promises, Dr. Jagdeo said that the APNU+AFC coalition used its tenure in office to witch hunt former PPP executives instead of developing the nation and keeping their promises.
The Vice-President said: “That’s what they spent their time on, rather than delivering what they said they will do, which was jobs for young people, to help with lowering the taxes, to deliver more welfare to our people, help the pensioners and the farmers and the miners. They did none of that. All they did was to harass people and then spent lavishly on themselves.
“Salary increases for themselves, special treatment for the members of the Cabinet and their families to take them abroad for medical care paid for by us.”
He also pointed to how the housing sector was stagnant under the previous APNU+AFC administration.
Contrary to this, the PPP/C government has officially surpassed its ambitious target of allocating 50,000 house lots within its first term in office (2020–2025), bringing new hope and tangible change to citizens across the country.
Since assuming office in 2020, the PPP/C government has reversed more than 300 taxes that were put in place by the previous government. The incumbent PPP/C has also created thousands of jobs, invested in the training of Guyanese, and made education free from tertiary to nursery.
Just one year after being elected to office, then President, David Granger was on record saying: “There is no magic wand. The government cannot provide jobs in the government service, in the Police Force or the Defence Force.”
Granger had said: “Employment is not something to be provided by the government. There is self-employment and we are working with the villages to generate more employment in those villages but it is going to be agro-based employment.”
The APNU and its coalition partner, AFC, however, took persons out of jobs instead of creating opportunities, as was seen for example in the sugar industry.
Under the APNU+AFC administration, sugar workers were begging for their livelihoods to be spared, even going so far as to hold pickets with heartfelt pleas in the scorching sun, at the time. However, the then government turned a deaf ear to the cries of those workers.
In 2017, the coalition government had announced the closure of several sugar estates across the country, leaving thousands of persons without jobs or sources of income. The move saw four sugar estates being closed and over 7,000 sugar workers losing their jobs.