Dear Editor,
REFERENCE is made to Mr Nigel Hinds’s letter published in the Stabroek News dated October 8, 2022, with the caption, “Budget questions for the Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance.”
Editor, all of the information Mr Hinds is requesting the minister to provide him, are publicly available. I am immensely taken aback that Mr Hinds, who is a chartered accountant and a former prime ministerial candidate of a political party that contested the 2020 elections, is unaware that all of the information he is seeking is publicly available. One can only reasonably conclude, therefore, that he is either lazy, mischievous or vexatious, or perhaps a combination of all of the foregoing.
Editor, I am unreservedly unapologetic about the above statement, especially since I have noted the outrageously extreme posture taken by Hinds with the allegations against the government on discriminatory policies, that the economic policies pursued are discriminatory. Yet, Mr Hinds fail to credibly justify his argument with sound evidence and policy analysis.
Given the fact that Mr Hinds has proven to the world, inter alia, his public letter to the minister seeking answers on information that he can independently obtain and verify, confirmed that he has absolutely no clue where to find the data and all of the financial information on the country’s public finances, which are all publicly available on the Ministry of Finance website, and he has effectively discredited his own extreme contentions about discriminatory practices and policies by the government. Let me make it simpler: if he has no clue where to find the information to do any analysis to justify his outlandish and extremism claims, then it goes without saying that his arguments have no basis, no merit, hence, devoid of truth altogether.
Nevertheless, let me help Mr Hinds by pointing him to the source of the information he is seeking so he can do his own homework. Hereunder mentioned are the questions Mr Hinds posed to the minister followed by my response pointing him to the source documents.
What is the regional budgetary allocation for each region of Guyana? Kindly provide breakdown between current allocation and capital allocation by region? This information can be found in the budget estimates, volumes 1 & 2, and can be accessed from the Ministry of Finance website. For ease of reference, here is the link: https://finance.gov.gy/budget/budget-estimates/.
How much is budgeted for construction contracts for each region? This can be found in the budget estimates as stated in (1) above.
How much is budgeted for subventions to Non-Governmental Organisations, the amount for each organisation and the names of these organisations? This can be found in the budget estimates as stated in (1) above.
For the nine months ending September 30, 2022, how many contracts have been approved for over GY$100 million; what are the names of the contractors for the individual contracts and what is the total value for each contract approved? The award of all government contracts is not state secrets. All of the information can be found in the media.
What amount of royalties is budgeted to be received in 2022 under the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), between the Government of Guyana and Exxon and its partners? This can be found in the appendix of the budget 2022 speech and can be accessed on the Ministry of Finance website.
How much royalty was received by the Government of Guyana in 2021 under the 2016 PSA? This can be found on the Bank of Guyana website. For ease of reference, here is the link. https://bankofguyana.org.gy/bog/research-publications/natural-resource-fund/quarterly-reports. Please note that monthly, quarterly, and annual reports are published with this information on the bank’s website, regularly and in a timely fashion.
How much were the profits received by the Government of Guyana in 2021, under the 2016 Profit-Sharing Agreement with Exxon and its partners? I appreciate the minister’s timely response. Again, this can be found from the same source cited above at number six.
Editor, I hope this is helpful to Mr Hinds.
Yours faithfully,
Financial Analyst, Joel Bhagwandin
