– expenditure in keeping with gov’t’s promises, says Minister Bharrat

AMID Opposition criticisms that Guyana’s non-oil sectors are being neglected, Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat, has shot back by simply highlighting a few of the projects contained in Budget 2022.

Pointing to some of the investments being made across all sectors, with emphasis on health, education, infrastructure, tourism and social services, “that is what it is being used for!” he exclaimed.

The minister went as far as to highlight specific programmes such as increases in the Education Cash Grants, Old Age Pension and the minimum wage threshold; the groundbreaking 20,000 online scholarships initiative being offered through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), the establishment of six new hospitals as well as the construction of new roads and bridges which will open up thousands of acres of lands for housing and other commercial investments.

These initiatives, Minister Bharrat reminded, are to be funded by oil revenues and are bound to bring a myriad of direct and indirect benefits to citizens in all corners of the nation.

“The NRF (Natural Resources Fund) incentivises non-oil sectors… logging, sugar, fishing,” Minister Bharrat noted.
To even ensure further benefits of the petroleum sector, he said that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government was keen on piloting the landmark Local Content legislation, which guarantees opportunities across all sectors.

In his defence of the $552.9 billion budget for this year, the minister said that he is disappointed, but not surprised by the opposition’s approach to criticise as opposed to positively contribute to it.
“What we heard should have been recommendations,” the minister posited.

Parliamentarian for the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), David Patterson, said that nothing in the budget is “aimed at even helping the working or poor getting to work; not a single word.”

Minister Bharrat, in his response, said that while all of Guyana’s problems and ills cannot be solved within a one-year budget cycle, the government intends to approach the House year after year, to seek funding for programmes that will have positive impact on the country. “We will come again, and we will keep coming,” Bharrat said.

He also made specific mention of the projects under his ministry, which are intended to bring greater relief to Guyanese from all walks of life; projects such as the gas-to-energy and Amaila Falls Hydropower projects which are intended to cut the cost of electricity by 50 per cent.

CRITICAL BOOST
In addition to cheaper power, the operationalisation of these projects are expected to provide a critical boost to the manufacturing sector, while inspiring greater investments, particularly in the area of value-added production.

Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill in an earlier presentation had pointed to the fact that while Guyana produces “soft drinks”, these are sold at higher costs than those that are imported, largely owing to expensive manufacturing costs associated with electricity consumption.

With the establishment of the two aforementioned energy projects, the government is hoping to exponentially increase value-added production.
Minister Bharrat also addressed the Coalition’s comparison of Guyana and Norway, establishing the fact that Norway discovered oil decades before Guyana, and has utilised its earnings to invest in critical areas. “Look at the infrastructure (in Norway) how did they build? Oil revenues,” Minister Bharrat pointed out.

The Natural Resources Minister also responded to the utterances of Patterson and his APNU+AFC colleagues that Budget 2022 was designed to serve “friends and family of the PPP/C”. This prompted Bharrat to admit that all Guyanese are friends and family of the PPP.

“It pains me to have elected leaders saying that PPP is only doing things for one section of the population. Is it only one set of people will get cash grants? Will only one set of people be served by the six new hospitals?” Bharrat inquired.

He continued by citing what he said was the opposition’s perception that “only one ethnic group works at GuySuCo”.
The minister clarified that the Guyana Sugar Corporation is staffed by persons of all ethnic and social backgrounds.

LONG GONE
“I thought we gone past those days… you don’t use that (race argument)… days for that is long gone,” he said.
Former Minister Patterson in his contribution to the House also pointed to the decline in gold production. In responding to this, Minister Bharrat said that indeed, gold declarations for 2021 has declined.

He reminded the House that in 2021, Guyana suffered months of unprecedented flooding that were destructive to all productive sectors, including the extraction industries. Some mining operations, according to Bharrat are still being dewatered. “It is not excuse; it is the reality of what happened,” the minister asserted.

As the debates continued, Patterson claimed that the PPP/C Government was allowing waste water dumping to take place offshore Guyana, during the oil drilling operations. The Member of Parliament even hinted that this could be the cause of the drop in fishing quantities.

It is important to note that the decline in fish stocks is not unique to Guyana. As a matter of fact, within the last few years, a global trend has forced world leaders, including the United Nations, to take action in examining and addressing the situation.

Locally, authorities have begun making heavy investments in the area of aquaculture and establishing ponds to heighten fish rearing activities; expansion and continuation of such initiatives are also being funded by the oil revenues, under the Ministry of Agriculture.