Mr. Speaker, members of this most honourable house, I am excited at the opportunity I have to add my comments to this 2014 budget debate and I want to  start by complimenting the Honourable Minister of Finance on the presentation of these estimates.

 

I know the honourable Minister of Finance may find my words surprising, as possibly he like many assume that we on the opposition side of the house have no other goal than to obstruct the work of government, bringing the dreaded “scissors” to the floor of this house.  But I say to you Minister we are so much more than that, and believe it or not….this is our country…and we too have what it best close to our hearts.

 

So budget 2014 is a good start in many areas but I want to remind us that we in this house are here to bring the hopes and aspirations of all Guyanese into these hallowed walls and to mold and fashion their dreams into a system that shares the wealth this nation with all Guyanese regardless political persuasion, ethnicity, religious affiliation or where you are on the socio economic ladder.

 

But my question is how do we measure development? Is it the economic growth indicators that are shoved down our throats on NCN or is it the homeless, the mentally ill and street children mushrooming on our streets every day, the young women and men hustling to sell a bottle of water most recently or the hundreds roaming our street everyday trying to sell a pattie, a hot dog, clothes, slippers anything to make an extra dollar to make ends meet.

 

I ask you what has this budget done for them.  The six hundred and twenty five additional dollars our pensioners received will not cover the cost of the grillwork they now need to install in their homes to protect them in this new Guyana.  This could not be more visible that in the recent attacks on two pensioners who lost their lives recently.

 

Although we are happy to give credit where it is due, I would ask that those on the other side of this house, drive around with their windows down or remove the tint which possibly darkens the reality that is Guyana today! I say this because a better Guyana for all Guyanese must mean a plethora of new jobs especially for our young people not a few scattered here and there which this budget highlights.

So we acknowledge we have had growth – but who or what has grown and have we had development?  And what is the face of development in Guyana?

 

Our constitution – is the foundation of Guyana’s political system and speaks of creating that still illusive (I quote) “inclusionary democracy by providing increasing opportunities for the participation of citizens, and their organisations in the management and decision making processes of the state, with particular emphasis on those areas of decision making that directly affect their well being.”

 

Well Mr. Speaker although my party and the thousands out there that we represent have been NOT been consulted on this all important financial plan I have decided not to pout, shout and pack my bags and say I “done play”, but rather I hope to present a few important “suggestions” from my own AFC budget shall we say, for your consideration.

 

I am well aware that this is “your” budget but I remind you this is “our” country too! So I hope that the egos will be put aside – at least for a few days, and that all worthwhile recommendations will be given the opportunity to be heard and considered. No one party has the monopoly on policy initiatives for the various sectors or the best recommendations to produce growth and development with a human face.

 

My good friend the most honourable Minister of Tourism Irfaan Ali  a few days ago talked of “everyone” being consulted and ask that we present an alternative budget.  Well I want to say that  this lowly woman is happy to take up the goodly gentleman’s challenge and so Mr. Ali here are my recommendations for your Ministry – the Ministry of Tourism.

 

The Tourism sector in Guyana has always been dear to my heart and as a member of this sector for more that twenty years I know the unrealized potential this sector holds for truly transforming Guyana  by moving into non traditional revenue streams that can boost our economy.

In fact one of my first meetings with the Honourable Minister of Finance was in the mid 1990’s yes decades ago, when as President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana I headed a delegation of members to present, as is done every year, a case for concessions to spur Tourism development in Guyana.

Today, twenty years later most of the recommendations of the private sector members of this industry, have been total ignored and the meager gains are shouted from every rooftop totally ignoring that we should have been further along the road to truly developing this industry.

 

Mr. Speaker in my examination of this budget I want to examine where we could have done better and put more money in the pockets of ordinary Guyanese.

 

Mr. Speaker it starts with the organsiation of the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce itself.  How could such a sector with all this potential be lumped with other major sectors like Industry and Commerce.  How can we expect the international marketplace to take us seriously when initiatives to move this sector forward have been put on the back burner for decades. The need for an autonomous tourism ministry is overwhelming.

 

Tourism is one of the fasted growing industries worldwide, and can provide high levels of job creation through training which can occur in a short space of time in this industry, once a realistic budget and a strategic marketing plan to drive visitor arrivals to the country exists.  Unfortunately an adequate budget and the comprehensive marketing plan which is a function of that budget do not exist.

 

On the point of training I must say that the announcement finally of funding for a hospitality training institution is one which we applaud.  For over two decades stakeholders in the industry have highlighted the need for hospitality training as a means of raising standards and improving quality. The suggestion has always been that the mandate of the Carnegie School of Home Economics is expanded and it be given the requisite funding to play such a role.  Mr. Speaker I hope we will build on what we have.

 

On this point I wish to observe that the Minister of Finance in presenting his budget spoke of making a $ 4 million US dollar investment for the establishment of a hospitality institute. We note that $ 55 million has been included under the capital expenditures of the Ministry of Education as I quote “Provision for a Hospitality Institute and Institutional strengthening – CDB”. Of this amount only 5 million appears to be local funding and 50 million appears to be coming from the CDB.  I hope the Minister will clarify.

 

IMPACT! Yes impact…the honourable Minister of Tourism in his usual rumbustious manner was absolutely correct …what is the impact of all our efforts to date when it comes to the development of a tourism industry and what has hindered more rapid growth. I propose to list a few and each of these are areas in which your government could have allocated more in this 2014 budget to push the sustainable development of our tourism industry.

 

Mr. Speaker many might be unaware that in several Caribbean Tourism destinations and elsewhere  governments have allowed the tourism and hospitality sector to pay a lower rate of VAT than the standard rate.

In the Bahamas the standard VAT rate is 15% but for their tourism sector its 10%.

In Barbados the rate is 17.5 % but a concessionary rate of 7. 5 % is applied to the tourism industry. Similarly in Dominica the rate is 15% but reduced to 10% for the tourism sector.  In Jamaica they go even further, the rate is 16.5%  and  a reduced rate of 10% plus a guest accommodation room tax which is dependent on the number of rooms a hotel is applied. The smaller the property the less tax to be paid.

 

The private sector in Guyana lobbied hard for such a tiered approach long before the implementation of the VAT. Today the tourism industry is still a relatively new and emerging industry in terms of growth and is taxed heavily like many other sectors.

 

The challenge for us Guyanese is that other destinations have granted preferential VAT treatment to their tourism and hospitality sector which makes our product more expensive in the market and therefore we need to do the same to compete with these destinations.  So Honourable Minister we in the AFC would recommend that you implement a reduced  rate of VAT for the tourism sector, and give the industry a jump start.

 

At present, Mr. Speaker in the tourism sector there is a two tier structure in the system of granting incentives,
with tourism businesses in the Interior locations being eligible for a
wider range of incentives that those in Georgetown. This has created a playing field that is no way level.   I would be the first to state that I am excited with the development of our eco lodges, community tourism programmes in places like Surama and their commitment to improving standards and quality but I think it is necessary and only fair that these incentives be given across the board to all participants.

The plight of the small hotels is very similar.  For years the incentive programme for hotels in Georgetown where the majority of hotels can be found, have been available only to properties with 15 or more rooms.  Although this make look reasonable at face value it is necessary to note that of the 3500 hotel rooms currently in existence, the two largest Georgetown based hotels account for no more than 320 rooms of the total.  These incentives therefore lock out more that 50 % of those in the accommodation sector. We are all aware of special government funded programmes to brand small hotel in markets like St. Lucia and Barbados.  Such an approach is necessary in Guyana.

Mr. Speaker we should be celebrating that our accommodation sector and tourism providers are for the most part owned and operated by proud and hardworking Guyanese, committed to staying here, and investing at home. But the current incentive regime discriminates against them giving them no supporting hand to facilitate expansion. The cost of the various licenses to operate a tourism related business are the same if you have a twelve rooms or one hundred and if you are a foreigner you will receive more tax breaks than your Guyanese counterparts. In my budget therefore such incentives would be make available to all.

A 4X4 vehicle is a necessity for any tour operator or resort in our interior locations to do the job. It is not a luxury. In Guyana our tourism incentive package provides duty free concessions on pick up trucks in this sector which are wholly inadequate for transporting groups of tourists for long hours across dusty red dirt roads no matter how beautiful the terrain maybe. And the near 300% duty placed on 4X4 vehicles has made acquisition impossible for legitimate tourism businesses.

The result is that over the years, the unavailability of suitable transportation in  interior locations has been a key criticism expressed at the end of familarisation trips organized by the Ministry,  the private sector and the GTIS support programme. Surely we can devise a system to assess the bona fides of potential applicant.  This is just another concession for the tourism industry that I have included in an AFC budget.

Mr. Speaker, more than twenty years ago the then Tourism Association of Guyana lobbied hard for the development  of a Guyana Tourism Authority.  In fact it was this private sector organization that initiated contact with the Organsation of American States, the OAS and with support from the former Minister Shree Chand organized a consultancy to examine Guyana’s tourism potential which conducted intensive discussions with stakeholders on the formulation of what would be the GTA.  I know that the honourable minister of tourism was probably still in primary school and yes I’m showing my age.

Mr. Speaker, the honourable Minister of Tourism has advised me that the Guyana Tourism Authority recorded 200,122 visitors in 2013 and I congratulate them on that. But regretfully, inadequate financing year after year has meant that Guyana has failed to implement a comprehensive destination market plan, which is fundamental to moving any tourism industry forward, and so we continue to wallow in the dream of the potential this sector can offer. This single fact can only be interpreted as a failure to understand that it is estimated that this sector contributed approximately 237 million US dollars to Guyana’s GDP while contributing 190 million in value added revenues.  Compare this to the funds given to the industry. May I suggest therefore that in this budget funds we allocate funds to accurately calculate the contribution of our tourism industry to the GDP.

So Mr. Speaker please add to my budget funds for proper marketing plan,  and if our dear Minister of Finance would like to suggest there is no money for this, we in the AFC would like to suggest that he use the funds from the departure tax to fund such a campaign as was promised many years ago.  The issue here is of allocating limited resources to best use and with a few local hotels up for sale and legitimate hotels experiencing low occupancy rates I question your figure of a 76% occupancy rate across the industry.

At this point I would like to reiterate that government had no right to take funds from our national reserves to build another hotel for a team of foreigners to manage…that should have been left to the private sector!…and yes money from NICIL belongs to the people of Guyana and should be include as revenues within this budget.

Destination Guyana is indeed “a well kept secret” but that works against us….one of the biggest challenges we face is that those with the disposable income to enjoy our more expensive tourism product do not know where we are.  The 58 million US dollars spent on the Marriot hotel which brought us no jobs in the construction process, could have been used to funded a more than adequate advertising campaign with spots on some of the world most popular cable networks.

We are grateful for the free coverage we get through the numerous documentaries and series like “Gold Rush” but we will only be successful when we specifically examine whom we are hoping to reach and what are the best means of getting them to buy that ticket and come visit our beautiful country.  Instead “marketing Guyana” is going to the same old locations and events held in the North America targeting a diaspora who need to see some damage control messages as every day stories of crime and attacks on returning Guyanese scare away some of these potential visitors.

Mr. Speaker, I applaud the efforts to clean up the city of Georgetown but I would like to state that the best long-term solution for this crisis could only be the holding of local government elections urgently.

Time does not allow me to focus on the need for zoning enforcement as our tourism industry competes with other extractive industries for the same space. Nor the issue on our streets where hotels have been invaded by parked containers, garlic and potato or scrap iron businesses next door. These are areas of concern affecting the industry.  Equally important is the maintenance of our historical buildings formerly a site to behold but which are now falling down like the City Hall, which we know will not be repaired because of an ongoing political war.  It is against this background that we observe that our National Trust  receives a mere 54.4 million next to GINA’s $139 Million!

The Power of the Arts and its value for Society

“Art is what helps make a society from an economy. It builds communities, focusing the attention on the intangible but essential and celebrates beauty. Art nurtures passion and feelings, it enhances our daily lives, and it enriches our relationships and is how you can tell that building an economy is worthwhile”.

In an effort to ensure that we value this most transformative of disciplines I now speak to disintegration of Guyana’s foremost theatrical institution and quite possibly the most prolific in output since its resuscitation during Carifesta and definitely the most prolific in the  identification and training of new talent.  The Theatre Guild (a non-profit organization run by volunteers) gets a paltry $750,000 per year as a subvention.  Carifesta saw the Guild being used as one of the venues for which it is still to receive payment which led to the accumulation of some $14 million in debt to the GPL.   You see the Theatre Guild is listed as an industrial entity and their electricity bill starts at a mandatory $ 300,000 every month regardless if a light is switched on or energy consumed.

In a recent letter to the opposition parties the Guild requested that this matter be brought before this august house for consideration, the contents of which I now quote:

“To put the matter succinctly, the Playhouse has been saddled with a past due Electricity bill of some $14 million Guyana dollars most of which was essentially racked up by hosting several official events during the Carifesta period, for which the Guild was not paid by the Government.

 

We have been negotiating with Guyana Power & Light Inc. to honor this debt but have found the reduction of this onerous amount a drain on our meager resources. As you know the Guild is a not for profit organization which is run completely by volunteers from among our members.

 

In light of the proposed allocation to the Energy, Power Generation and Supply sector of $7.7 billion as announced by the Hon. Minister of Finance in the Budget Speech on March 24^th 2014, we the Executive of the Theatre Guild are asking that you support our request that he amends that amount to include the $14 million that has accumulated starting with the non-payment of amounts owed to the Guild for its use during the regional festival.

 

We know that the powers vested in you in the Committee of Supply can be used to suggest amendments of allocations to the sector.  This particular amendment would effectively remove this millstone from around the neck of this historic and most important oasis in the creative industries sector. We shall also vigorously lobby the other parties that constitute the House to support this allocation that will serve as an impetus to our flowering Theatrical community. Please also see this as a critical investment in the burgeoning tourism sector of the country.”

 

To the Honourable Minister of Culture I say let us urgently find a solution to the plight of Theatre Guild after all it contradicts all you have said on the value given to the expansion and promotion of the arts.

 

In light of this, I must now respond to the honourable member Bibi Shaddick who made claim that the Theatre Guild charges more than the Cultural Centre for the use of the facility.   Our information must be coming from different sources because according to my research this is not at all the case.

 

By comparison the National Cultural Centre and the Theatre Guild are two completely different spaces in terms of size, but should we compare, we would have to use the costs charged for use of the small space at the NCC which seats 500.  The Theatre Guild seats 300.

 

The National Cultural Centre charges $110,000 for the use of the entire space which seats 1975 and is budgeted to receive some $45 million in the current forecast.

 

The Cultural Centre charges $40,000 for the use of the 500 seat space with an additional charge of $30,000 for technical rehearsals…effectively $70,000 per night and an additional 20% of ticket sales. So, on average should a person sell tickets for $1000 and sell 300 seats (the amount that the Theatre Guild holds) they would then pay an additional $60,000 per night, bringing the total for a three night production to $250,000.

 

The Theatre Guild normally charges $52,500 for the use of the space with two technicals…As such a person or group renting the Guild and selling the same 300 seats at the same $1000 would pay $157,500 for the same three nights.

 

The Board of the Guild decided recently that they would have to raise the amount charged to $70,000 per night in an effort to deal with its ever mounting debt  if this situation does not change.

 

ICT

Mr Speaker, the finance minister took just a few minutes short of three hours to regale this House with his government’s grandiose dreams and in so doing stated, “Recognising the importance of ICT to our modernisation efforts, Government will continue to invest in the sector. The sum of $1.1 billion is budgeted in 2014 for the completion of works under the e-Government project, which includes the completion of 13 additional LTE-A towers. The OLPF initiative will be relaunched and reinvigorated, and will benefit from a budgeted $2 billion for the acquisition of a third batch of laptops, with an estimated 17,948 laptops scheduled for distribution this year.  Before the end of the year, 100 percent of our secondary schools will have functioning IT labs.”

 

Mr. Speaker, those are very lofty statements. They sound good, they look good in the papers, but ICT is not just about running cables, putting up towers and distributing laptops, it is about making information available and we can’t help but wonder who will benefit from the billion dollar ICT contracts in the absence of the Public Procurement Commission?

 

Mr. Speaker, the 2012 Auditor General’s report (page 28) shows that a difference of $1.252 billion was expended under the OLPF Programme for the acquisition of 27,000 laptops, which were received in 2013. At the time of audit, 4,149 of those laptops were issued but more remarkably, 2,649 were damaged, and 2,011 were returned to the supplier due to defects. In addition, we are yet to hear the final take of the 103 laptops that were stolen. Now, this government is asking us to approve $2 billion for more laptops. Mr. Speaker, the Alliance For Change fully supports every school, not only secondary schools, but every school having fully functional IT labs but at the rate these laptops are being damaged, even before they get to the people, leaves a lot to be desired. And while we look at laptops for every home and every school, what is the plan for the University of Guyana students.  We in the Alliance For Change would like to see each university student being given a laptop and a working one please!

 

NCN and GINA

Mr Speaker, Public Service Broadcasting  according to UNESCO ‘s definition

is I quote: “Broadcasting made, financed and controlled by the public  for the public. It is neither commercial nor state owned, free from political interference and pressures from commercial sources. Through PBS, citizens are informed, educated and also entertained. When guaranteed with pluralism, programming diversity, editorial independence, appropriate funding accountability and transparency, public service broadcasting can serve as a cornerstone of democracy.”

 

Well Mr. Speaker we all know that democracy only came to Guyana on October 5, 1992 “ the dawn of a new era” but somehow it escaped the operations of the National Communications Network.

 

Budget 2014 budget sets aside $81 million for the National Communication Network (NCN) and $139 million for the Government Information Agency (GINA). That is a total of $220 million of taxpayers money that this government has set aside to promote itself. Mr. Speaker, that is a lot of tax dollars for ‘bare talks’. Not only is it ‘bare talks’ but it is only ‘PPP talks’. I say this because it seems the only group that can secure airtime on NCN is the government. Mr. Speaker, no one really knows what GINA does and how whatever it does is supposed to benefit the people of Guyana, but the people are being asked to give them $139 million. To do what Mr speaker, write letters to the Editor and those GINA press releases?

 

While this government plans to spend 220 million tax dollars on self-aggrandisement, imagine our main agency for attracting investment to our country the Guyana Office for Investment received by comparison $ 119,781 million approximately 20 million less than GINA.

 

Mr. Speaker there in lies the problem. How can this house be asked to approve 220 million for NCN and GINA when we have waited patiently for two years to see some change in the mandate and focus of these entities.

 

If they operate as public service broadcasting entities then yes the public will benefit and we will approve the use of the public’s money for this use.  But, if the remain propaganda agencies of the PPP then we say no problem, let the PPP pay for this as none of the opposition political parties in this house have asked that Guyana’s tax dollars be used to pay for their in house PR campaigns. No sir, that could never be right!

 

Non-governmental organisations that are actually walking the walk and helping abused women and children to put their lives together, centres that are helping drug addicts to get over their addiction and homes for orphans and neglected children are receiving a paltry hand-out.  I say 50 per cent of this allocation for government talks would be of better used if given to these institutions. It would have more of an impact on improving person’s lives if it was allocated to our NGOs.

Mr Speaker, at a bare minimum NCN does not even offer the opposition ( who do represent a section of our population) a right of reply which is recognised internationally as fundamental.

 

Now, addition to the $220 million that the government has allocated to blow its own trumpet, another $43.2 million will be paid as fees at the rate of $3.6 million per month to TVG for services provided for the Learning Channel.

Let me at this stage compliment the Learning Channel on the role they are playing in educating Guyana’s youth especially those in the hinterland regions. But while the Government is providing $81 million of tax payers’ money to NCN, we note that none of that money is used to broadcast learning material.

 

The government plans to take an additional 43 million plus tax dollars and pay it to TVG to carry educational material. I know the government will counter and claim that NCN lacks to capacity to carry the Learning Channel but at the same time they must explain why the investment was not made. Why after spending billions of tax payer’s money over the last twenty two years, NCN does not have the capacity to carry the Learning Channel.

 

Where did the money go, was it deposited into private accounts like the payment from GT&T which seems to have been swept under the carpet and for which no charges have been brought? And then to that report on irregularities at NCN that the honourable President promised, I hope it is coming soon and not as the Jamaican would say “soon come” which the honourable member Bibi Shadick so aptly defined yesterday. We wait patiently.

 

Mr. Speaker we want you and this house to understand that we are not vengeful when it comes to NCN but it has to do with the abuse of a public entity for partisan benefit.  It is the watchdog function of this house to guard against  such abuse.

On this issue I would like to close with the statements of the Minister of Home Affairs, the honourable Clement Rohee, which appeared in the Guyana Chronicle of Wednesday February 12, 2014 on page 2 under the caption Rohee charges Stabroek News with biased coverage.  Therein the honourable Minister stated I quote “all media houses have a duty to be responsible in providing balanced coverage of the political views”. Minister Rohee…you are absolutely correct…and I would ask you to explain this concept to your friends at GINA and NCN.

With all that I have said I recognize that this budget’s is the governments’ budget and I respect that, and since we can only approve or disapprove I hope that our Minister of Finance might come again with revisions based the suggestions raised in this house during these debates.  After all, all the parties in this house have Guyana’s best interest at heart. I thank you all!