Poor Economic Reality

With the economy doing badly, the domestic public debt growing by leaps and bounds, the balance of payment deficit continuing to need plugging through grants & loans, and the economic environment steadily deteriorating because of inhospitable political and social conditions, the Minister’s hope of infusing dynamism in the economy to sustain growth and accelerate development in the country is pure fantasy. For the Hon. Minister to advance the global argument of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, the outbreak of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus (SARS) in Asia and the war in Iraq as negative contributory factors that effected Guyana’s economic recovery is tantamount to disregarding the intelligence of the Guyanese people.

Growth Rate Inadequate

We do not share the Minister’s view that the average growth rate of 0.05% during the last years could in all honesty be described as a quantum leap. Regrettably, grasping at straws was the tenor of the Minister’s budget presentation and it failed to exude confidence that Govt had a plan to get us out of the economic & political morass that saw the economy falling short of PRSP projections. The Finance Minister conceded that fundamental to Guyana’s economic recovery and national development aspirations was the crucial question of resolving the stubborn political problems facing our country over the last fifty years. Yet he continued to ignore this reality, foregoing in the process his duty to grapple with this intransigent problem in relation to its implications for the economy, attracting investment and his budgetary financial objectives.

Blaming the Main Opposition for the Political Climate

To once again lay the unstable political climate at the feet of the main opposition party, demonstrates Govt’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge its duty to respond aptly and creatively for the good of the nation in order to resolve Guyana’s debilitating political situation. Only someone who was naïve would expect Govt to control the behaviour of the PNC/R. We make no such unreasonable request, but what we ask of the Govt is in their ability to deliver – that is good governance. What the Minister seems to be saying in his budget presentation is that the PPP/C’s mandate to govern should be synonymous with the opposition’s duty to respect & support Govt’s authority whatever they may choose to do. If Govt wants to earn the respect & support of the parliamentary opposition, Govt must demonstrate its willingness to govern fairly, a willingness to put to end deceptive acts of malice, prejudice and actions deleterious to the achievement of peace and harmony in the country. Then and only then will Govt find the task of governing this country manageable and political activism reduced significantly.

Sustained Economic Growth A Fiction

It was tiresome & unbelievable to hear the Finance Minister in presenting the 2004 budget boldly stake the claim to sustained economic growth and enhanced social development when the future looked so bleak to hundreds of thousands of Guyanese qualified & unqualified who are either unemployed or under-employed, when large numbers of our people were fleeing the country by any means possible, when Govt had failed to deliver adherence to the rule of law, failed to protect human rights, workers rights, property rights and provide physical security to citizens. Contrary to the view expressed by the Minister, we do not fall prey to the ‘no new taxes’ pronouncement since we take the view that indirect taxes are heaped on the Guyanese people in the imposition of NIS increases and in relation to costly exploitative public utility charges for which opportunity losses are incalculable. The administration appeared to be playing to the gallery in adopting what has come to be called ‘the Washington consensus’ of free market policies, privatisation and market liberalisation policies without having done the necessary assessments to ascertain whether this developmental model was taking the country where we desired to go developmentally. The truth of the matter is that there are signs all around us that these policies were not delivering the rate of economic growth necessary to get the economy moving. In fact, what we saw was crucial institutions mal-functioning, unprecedented levels of crime, violence and growing deep rage gripping certain sections of the society.

Crime & Security

In 2001 when unprecedented levels of criminal activity had enveloped sections of the East Coast of Demerara with the village of Buxton virtually held captive by criminals, I joined colleagues in a protest fast that lasted several weeks in drawing attention to the violent assaults on persons perceived to be supporters of the Govt. We unsuccessfully urged Govt then to launch an investigation into the true nature of the activities of the gunmen marauding those villages. Three years later the dastardly criminal elements marauding villages have expanded their activities to terrorizing a wide cross section of citizens, rich & poor & of various races. After several years of public concern, Guyanese of African decent continue to complain about their young men being whisked away by armed elite squads masquerading as police officers, only to turn up dead in extra judicial killings. The country’s inadequate legal framework failed the nation in regards to the Good Hope revelations that an armed elite squad was in operation.

To date, we are yet to see any corrective legislation being brought to this House by Govt to deal with this legislative deficiency to allow successful prosecution of armed elite criminal squads. In the interim, we saw developing among our people ethnic tensions, physical insecurities, deep psychological injuries and wide spread rage without any serious attempt being made by Govt to enquire into the causes and nature of the criminal activity being unleashed on citizens. Since then, Govt has faced the very serious public revelations about the existence of death squads and the involvement of a Govt Minister who is a member of this National Assembly! Yet to date Govt has opted to throw all discretion to the wind in not investigating these very serious allegations.

Meanwhile the whole nation is being brought under suspicion because of reports of visas being withdrawn from that Minister who is a colleague of ours in this Assembly, an ex Commissioner of police & other senior police officers by Canada & the US Govt that houses the HQs of the UN & IFIs such as the WB, the IMF & the OAS, etc. and no Govt official has seen it appropriate to make a statement in this Assembly – giving free rein in the process to speculation, gossip & opportunity for ridicule to be poured on this House often described by members of the Govt as the highest forum in the land. In these circumstances how seriously could we take the Minister’s lengthy budget presentation, his pronouncements and projections for the various sectors of the economy? Tackling the problem of the upsurge in crime depends heavily on the close cooperation between the Minister responsible for the GPF and the Commissioner of Police. Now that attempts to prevent his accession to that office have at long last ended Mr. Felix begins his tenure with the highest expectations from all sections of the society. It is noted that he is not a suspect. His visas have not been pulled by North American Govts and he has undertaken to uphold the law. We expect to be assured that the Govt will administratively provide the new Commissioner of Police with the requisite support and resources in order that he might fulfil the expectations of the society.

Governance Not Good Enough

The IFIs & academics from around the world now acknowledge that the dominant problem feeding poverty and retarding economic development in countries like ours is the inability of governments to provide good enough governance. They now take the view that before democracy could prevail there has to be adequate Govt and in order to attain adequate Govt I posit that political legitimacy is pivotal. To the extent that the Guyana Govt is satisfied with passing the buck and laying the problem at the feet of the main opposition party rather than put creative minds to work on crafting a political solution, it is being irresponsible and abdicating its duty as a Govt – to govern. When Govts fail to govern, they create the ideal environment for destabilizing the State. Therefore, in these circumstances, the opinion expressed in certain quarters that the country is exhibiting signs of assuming the status of a failed State should be taken seriously.

Economic Policy Inhospitable

Given the fact that the World Bank, in an opinion, supported this prognosis and stated that Guyana’s economic policy regime was not conducive to private sector development and in fact impeded the country’s competitiveness within and outside the region, the Finance Minister’s refusal to speak with the PSC despite a written request from that organisation for a meeting, does not auger well either for the private sector or the Minister’s promise to support investment initiatives, job creation and demands for the expansion of the economy. What it does, however, is support the opinion that the quality of Govt we have is not good enough to allow the private sector to be the engine of economic growth. In fact, it provides credence to claims being made in sections of the society that members of the Govt were prepared to satisfy their need for vindictiveness whatever the cost to the economy and the society as a whole.

Improvement Of Statistical Capacity

The move to improve the country’s capacity to generate economic & social data through an IDB funded project, is a tacit admittance that statistical data has been unreliable at best and unavailable at worse. One need only look at the paucity of data contained in the review of the PRSP to confirm this. The delay in releasing the Population & Housing Census that was completed some months ago is most disconcerting, and has already led to undesirable public speculation that repudiates Govt’s proper management of the affairs of State.

Corruption Treated With Denials

If there is anything that will haunt this Govt after it leaves office it will be the unprecedented level of corruption evident during its tenure in office. Instead of introducing measures to curtail acts of corruption and build confidence in Govt’s procurement systems, Govt officials have treated this issue with little more than official denials, thereby exhibiting great disrespect for public opinion and the many experiences that disillusion Guyanese on the matter of corruption. As I predicted during the debate on the procurement bill early last year, maximum delay has been adopted in establishing the Public Procurement Commission to introduce parliamentary oversight over the process to the detriment of the Guyanese people who are being denied value for their tax dollars and the capital loans being borrowed in their name that generations to come will have to repay. Two examples are the rapidly deteriorating East Coast Demerara embankment road and the construction failure evident to the approach to the Mahaicony Bridge.

Pending Electoral Constitutional Measures

The Finance Minister’s declaration that an exciting period lay ahead for our country into the first decade of the millennium will be nothing more than empty rhetoric and fiction, if the recommendations contained in the Parliamentary Oversight Committee’s Final Report submitted to the House in July of 1999 on the work of the Constitution Reform Commission were not implemented in time for the next general elections. The report in Section 4 on page 23 states this:

“For instance, the constraints imposed by the Herdmanston time-table have implied the utilisation of the 10 administrative regions as the geographical constituencies for the next elections since there is not time enough to engage in a process of constituency demarcations, never an uncontroversial matter even under the best of political conditions; but the constitutional changes drafted, while establishing a framework in accord with the CRC’s recommendations and facilitating the specifics of 2001’s electoral rules, leave this question as one of many to be resolved by the Assembly for the future.”

Were we in receipt of what is now defined as ‘good enough governance’ at a minimum as distinct from good governance, which in Guyana situation is unlikely to be attained anytime soon, this issue would have been given the required attention by now bearing in mind the opportunities it presented to alleviate the electoral and political problems facing the country. Given the spirit & intent of the overarching Constitutional clause on financial autonomy provided for in the third schedule of the Constitution, and the Finance Minister’s recent pronouncement in this House that financial independence was a myth, there appears to be a grave departure from the spirit & intent of the Constitution in regards to the exercise of rights & functions of agencies like GECOM & the Judiciary listed as budgetary agencies in the recently enacted Fiscal Management & Accountability Act. In closing I call on the Minister to provide assurances to this House that Govt will desist from exerting influence on these agencies as was done when salaries for officers of GECOM were withheld and introduce instead financial measures to fulfil the Constitutional requirement for a direct charge to be made on the Consolidated Fund for the budgetary needs of all Commissions.

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