Mr. Speaker, this is the season of sophistry and of eloquence; of empty rhetoric and boundless arrogance and ignorance. This is budget season! That annual pantomime to which we willingly submit ourselves by pretending that all is well, and at the same time that nothing good had transpired since we last gathered. This is the time when we gloat of miniscule achievements as if they were gargantuan accomplishments, and diminish that which were worthy of our acclaim. It is the season of promoting illogical fiscal policies and programmes that have resulted from over active imaginations.

I, wonder why we keep coming back for more and wonder every year, and every day; whether it is duty that compels us, or stupidity that commits us, to be here? I am reminded of Shakespeare’s words: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances.” In the eyes of the people out there we have become mere actors and actresses performing in this annual pantomime. Nonetheless, I have been advised that for the time being we have to hold sacred to this tradition of budget presentation and debates, and have the patience of Job if we are to bring about change for which all Guyanese crave.

This year’s budget Mr. Speaker falls dangerously close to being described as pedestrian. There is simply no vision and nothing exciting that offers hope for improving the quality of life this year, and beyond. I hope that the Minister is not offended, but nothing jumps out at us to create that ‘wow” or “yes” effect.

When the Honourable Minister first appeared in these Chambers, I, knowing him from another place, advised him not to fall prey to the misguided ways of some colleagues and advisers who believe that is through superficiality and subterfuge that governance is best achieved. I advised him that he should let caution be his watchword at all times. Because I am aware that he could be set-up to say, and do, things that are not admirable and can bring dishonour and discredit to him. I again caution that he is getting dangerously close to that point where the people of Guyana will begin to lose faith in him as they become less trustful of his words; and more suspicious of his motives.

Much has already been said on both sides of the house and I wish to commend those on the Government side who valiantly went into battle to defend the indefensible; and those on this side, the opposition side, who skillfully and masterly unhinged and dismantled the nation’s largest budget and exposed it as being a colossal hoax and therefore, a disappointment. The budget at the day’s end has become as sounding brass and tinkling cymbal because it is devoid of the charity that we expected of, and in, it.

The Title of this budget is not just a misnomer, but a mistake and a mishap. It is inelegantly and uncaringly wrapped in a glossy cover, but is bereft of substance. There are so many promises unfulfilled from last year, and no proper accountability given for the stewardship of the affairs of state over the past year. Late last year we in the AFC stated that we were firmly of the opinion that the worldwide financial crisis would definitely affect Guyana in more significant ways than the Government has stated and would wish Guyanese to believe. We called on the Government to display honesty on this issue. The contagion effects of the global financial crisis would not escape Guyana, and already, we are beginning to see signs of economic recession, as remittances decline; the falling away of gold and diamond prices; and of bauxite and forest products, and the marked decrease in spending power of the Guyanese working class;…

The Government has been too complacent by simply saying that our financial system is sufficiently insulated from shocks and tremors. This is stark contrast to the situation in other Caribbean countries whose governments and stakeholders have already began examining ways of staving off the harsh effects of the ongoing financial global meltdown. In this regard a multi-partisan strategy to the issue is the only approach at this time as we should follow the lead of other countries by convening a dialogue of relevant national stakeholders. We need to drop the pretense and take the bull by the horns.”

With your leave Mr. Speaker I will traverse some of the budget’s main features.

Inflation

Mr. Speaker, the Minister has advised that after a spike in the inflation rate when VAT was introduced, that it tapered off to a low of 6% by the end of 2008. Given the debacle of the Skeldon Sugar factory, heavy rains, and a decline in consumer spending, that this figure is artificial and is probably more in the vicinity of 9-10%. In fact Mr. Speaker these figures remain elusive because of the unavailability of data being supplied by the Statistical Bureau. We challenge the Minister to establish how he arrived at this figure and are prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, and an opportunity to convince us in his rebuttal. What I will leave him with is the latest edition of the Economic Intelligence Unit’s report on Guyana which I know he has a copy of. In fact the Minister is well aware that the EIU’s report projects, even taking into account the sugar reform plan and programme, a modest real GDP growth of 1.8% as against the ambitious 4.6% announced by the Minister.

Debt Management

We should all be concerned with the management of our expanding debt Mr. Speaker when by admission; the debt grew by 16% in 2008 to US$833.7 million. This issue becomes more acute as a result of expected decline in consumer spending and reductions in tax revenue. The assurances given by the Minister at paragraph 3.35 of his Budget presentation provide a fools comfort that we are practicing good fiscal management in the face of the global crisis. Again we expected more from the Minister as to how exactly he hopes to achieve this “prudent debt management strategy” even as he admits the great vulnerability to the exogenous shocks that Guyana has already begun to experience.

Drainage & Irrigation

Mr. Speaker D&I are bound together as Minister Persaud well knows and impacts heavily on the performance of human settlement and agriculture development; especially, on the coastal regions of Guyana. The number one concern for our farmers large, and small, is that the drainage and irrigation infrastructure is woefully inadequate. We are told that in 2008 $3.8 billion were spent on drainage and irrigation yet at the end of the year; tens of thousands of Guyanese were inundated by water through no fault of their own. Where is the bang for the buck, where has the money gone Mr. Speaker? We are now told that for this year a further $1.2 Billion will be spent (see page 36). Why should we say “yes” to another billion dollars disbursement when we have not been satisfied that Guyana would benefit from the money earmarked to be spent.

Additionally, it has also been announced that $2 billion is to be spent on the construction of the intended outlet from the East Demerara Water Conservancy through the Hope area. In total, Mr. Speaker some $8 billion is to be spent and we are nowhere more comfortable or assured that this is prudent management of the Drainage & Irrigation sector, and moreover that the money should be approved. Have we exhausted all options, including, that which experts say, we should be re-opening the Cunha Canal on the East Bank? Convince us Mr. Minister that this is money well spent. Thorough studies and analysis must be conducted that would convince us that we will get value for money spent to solve the problems of flooding on the coastland.

Mr. Speaker, I have recently come into possession of some information which informs me that in 2003 this Government received the report of a study on Natural Resources Management conducted by the Government of Germany. The report recommended many things, foremost amongst which was the establishment of a new settlement and town. We are spending billions on saving the coast, we in the AFC believe that it is time to act wisely by preparing for the impact of climate change, and to be able to harness and optimize the benefits of the resources that we have been blessed, with by preparing to move to higher, safer ground. I am alarmed that the Government has remained mum about this study and is not actively advancing it on a fast track. This is something that we would have no hesitation in partnering with the Government on because we recognize that change is inevitable especially, climate change.

Sugar

Perhaps the most frightening aspect of this budget is the unreasonable burden being placed on the sugar industry to be the bed rock of our economic sustainability for development. This fact is borne out by Minister Singh’s own words at paragraph 3.1 of his presentation: “Given the weight of sugar in the domestic economy, and the manner in which the sector affected overall performance this year, it s worthwhile that non-sugar gross domestic product grew by 5.9 per cent.” He went on to state that there is an ambitious plan to ensure the turnaround of the industry. The question then is what happens if the industry remains in a state of paralysis at the end of 2009. All of the objective analyses available to us tell us that this is likely to be the case. What is the exit strategy if this sugar reform plan fails? What will be the faith of sugar workers? We need to know.

The success of this budget is now resting almost solely on the performance of the sugar industry. What we have seen in the past- the shake-up, the departures, the mismanagement, and the mistakes, leaves us little comfort that the government is going to get it right in 2009. In short Mr. Speaker, the economy of Guyana is precariously poised on a one-legged stool and the Ministers of Finance and Agriculture are no acrobats by any stretch of the imagination. Strikes, floods, drought, mechanical failure, and the impact of the 12.5 % decline in quota price, all known to be likely, and expected, occurrences, will see the stool tethering on the brink of collapse. The outlook is not a positive one for the sugar industry and by extension, the domestic economy.

Mr. Speaker, those who know me well know that I find music as one of the best mediums of expressing the true feelings of people. There is a popular song being played on the streets of every community in Guyana, and particularly, the more depressed ones: It is called “Nothing To Smile About” by Morgan Heritage. It is these words that an unemployed and struggling citizen from a nearby neighbourhood asked me to impress on the Minister and I am duty bound to repeat them.

“Look pon di gully side Do you see anything fi smile bout. Look at that hungry child. Do you see anything fi smile about.

Look at the school weh deh youth dem go fi get dem education. Do you see anything fi smile bout?

Look at the conditions of our police stations. Do you see anything fi smile bout?

How can the nation be living this way… How can the government play so many games?

Continuing in the In the tradition of Morgan Heritage Mr. Speaker Let us take a look around, see what’s going down. Tell Me How Come?

“Tell me how come those in power don’t seem to care. Its cause life is so unfair in this sweet Paradise,…this is why so many die leaving so many to cry

Tell me how come there’s so much guns in the street an none a dem gun neva make here Its cause life is so unfair in this sweet Paradise?”

Mr. Minister of Labour, tell me how come thousands of young men around this country are without work and are unable to be men of purpose and fathers to their children?

Tell me how come you claim that the private sector is the engine of growth yet casually ignore their entreaties for engagement and empowerment?

Tell me how come Mr. Minister of Works and Prime Minister the people of Region 10 are struggling to survive, have to breathe harmful dust every day, have to beg for a road from Linden to Kwakwani, and can’t have the right to television of their choice. Tell me how come?

Tell me how come Ministers of Agriculture and Amerindian Affairs the people of Moruca, Mabaruma, Port Kaituma, and Matthews Ridge, and all other hinterland communities are without jobs and opportunities and no markets are being provided for their crops?

Tell me how come Honourable Baksh, little Tenesha De Souza of the Santa Rosa school had to drown in a put latrine to remind you that her life is precious and that as a government you have a sacred duty to protect it when she is in your care and custody. How many more must die before flush toilets for our children is the acceptable standard that this government accepts?

Tell me how come the people of the North West have to travel by ferry in inhumane conditions while we show off fleets of prados? And how come we are making provisions for the roll on/roll off ferries when they are nowhere on the horizon?

Tell me how come workers at the airport and elsewhere have to go on strike just to earn, and to be treated with, a little respect by this government?

Tell me how come the sugar workers have to fight for their annual performance incentive, and even now efforts are afoot to deny them their just reward? Tell me Mr. Minister will they receive all of their 8.79 API by March 4, 2009? Our sugar workers expect nothing less and await your response.

Tell me how come there is no incentive or reward by way of an increase in salary for those public servants who toil tirelessly in this country?

Tell me how come the President speaks of the diversification of hinterland economies, and yet there is nothing to support this desire in this budget?

Tell me how come the youth of Guyana have been forgotten in this budget despite all the boasts that they are the future of our nation and have to be invested in the stay and develop our dear, green land of Guyana? Politics is about development.

Tell me why GPL is allowed to plunder the last dollars of the people, but yet is protected, and cuddled like a demon child, and be immune from investigation?

Tell this nation what is the fate of the Demerara Power Co. now that their contract is almost at an end?

Tell me how come that the depressed inner city communities and the once proud villages along the coast are without opportunities and are being allowed to die slow painful deaths?

Tell me how come tens of thousands of people had to wallow in filth, mud, and water when the rains came in December, again after billions were supposed to have been spent to protect their communities from “accumulation of water”?

Tell me how come millions can be found to show off Guyana while thousands live below the poverty line.

Honourable Ministers Manickchand and Ramson, tell me how come we speak about Justice and yet can calmly allow a disheveled woman to live in the drain in the foreground of the High Court of the Supreme Court of Judicature; almost within the shadow cast by the majestic statue of Queen Victoria. Her continued presence there is symbolic of the decaying state of the justice sector in Guyana, and leads us to ask where is the majesty of the rule of law in Guyana?

Tell me why it so unfair and why so, many cry? There is really, really, nothing to smile about. In fact Mr. Minister, don’t just tell me why, tell the people.

This budget is intituled “Working Together- Reinforcing Resilience”, of whom is the Minister referring, and when and where was the invitation to work together extended to the Opposition Parties, the Private Sector, the Workers’ representative Unions, and the Churches, to name a few. These are empty words. If there was a genuine desire to work together and reinforce resilience, we would have seen a sincere approach, and a reciprocal embrace by us on this side of the house. Sadly it was never made.

Mr. Speaker, there have been many worthwhile suggestions made both within and without this House. Much has already been said about a “stimulus package” perhaps yes, a nebulous phrase. Most, Mr. Speaker have become misguided and confused by the Trillion dollar package recently passed by the US Congress; believing perhaps that this budget should have been designed that way. I believe that at this juncture, the call is somewhat premature in the absence of a true assessment and resultant picture of how vulnerable indeed the Guyana economy really is, and how affected we already are. How widespread is the contagion; how exposed is our financial sector to the failings of CLICO and the Stanford Financial Group are questions which must be answered. What are the true expected performances of the sugar, bauxite, rice, forestry and gold industries, is another question that remains unanswered as well.

This is why the call for a panel of experts to be appointed is not one that should be rejected outrightly; simply because it came from the Opposition. There is too much at stake to gamble with the lives of so many. All of these proposals being advanced by the Parliamentary Opposition are predicated on the belief that there has to be multi-stakeholder and consensual approach to meet the threats and challenges posed by the unfolding global economic crisis.

Guyana, on the basis of any commonsensical analysis, cannot be insulated, fire-walled, or immunized from its effects simply by wishful thinking, or diktat. We can however be prepared if we are willing to work together. In the spirit of patriotism I wish to repeat some of the useful suggestions previously made:

That through a continuous process of means testing that the poorest of the poor and most vulnerable be identified and catered for.

That the banking sector be extensively scrutinized to ensure its constituent members are not dangerously exposed to the contagion, and to offer them protection if found to be.

That urgent consideration be given to the reduction of the rate of VAT from 16%.

That the GPL tariff be reduced in light of the decline in the price of generating fuel. In only 5 months the price of oil per barrel has plummeted from US$150 to under $40 by the end of 2008.

The reasoning behind these suggestions is Mr. Speaker that there should always be a cushion beneath the people; this cushion should be inflated and deflated as the situation permits. Right now, it does permit a reduction in both the VAT and the tariff on GPL.

Governance:

Mr. Speaker, we in the AFC reiterate that no budget, whether described as the largest or smallest, will adequately address the nation’s myriad difficulties and complexities, unless, and until, we solve our problem of governance. Mr. Speaker there are many terms being bandied about including “inclusive governance” shared governance, and power sharing, and participatory governance. This in itself tells us that what we have is not working. We in the AFC believe that there has to be a devolution of power away from the centralized system where people in their villages, towns, and in the city can become masters and commanders of their own affairs.

There is a certain distasteful presence of arrogance which is being displayed by this Government. It is harmful to good relations if indeed the achievement of good relations is the desire of the government at all. We see it in the back-handed dismissal of public servants and the threat of dismissal dangled over the heads of the Air Traffic controllers if they had only dared to picket “His Excellency, the President.” We witness it in the threats of arrest and prosecution of Honourable Members of this Assembly, and we live it every time we come here and our good advice is unceremoniously dismissed and rejected as was unsophisticatedyl done yesterday at the GDF Annual Officers’ Conference.

I am confident however that our body politic is undergoing a transformation; not perhaps at the rate at which most of us would want it to go, but a transformation none the less. We have to adapt if we expect to survive.

I believe that some of the words contained in the AFC’s New Year message need reiteration at this time:

“It is patently obvious that there has to be a transformation of the way in which the system of governance in Guyana is organized. This reform cannot come simply by tinkering at the top by placing a few politicians here, and there, in some committees and commissions, or even in the cabinet, or by pretending that our National Assembly is the greatest example of a proper functioning democracy. It has to come at the most important level; the level of the people. People must have freedom of choice in their villages and communities, with the accompanying right to raise and spend revenue as they see fit. This is why we in the AFC believe that simply having Local Government, and later National Elections, without fundamental changes, will keep us tied to the past. This is the kind of change that the people of Guyana have to demand. It is the change that lessens the influence of the few, and replaces it with the power of the multitudes.”

It is the change Mr. Speaker that will not displace the few who have power, but embrace all those who have the ability to offer themselves as patriots and servant leaders.

In the months ahead we dedicate ourselves to work with all groups to bring change and betterment to Guyana. From our parliamentary perspective we will in addition to the numerous expected engagements, be seeking to advance five critical causes this year:

The advancement of Freedom of Information legislation,

The adoption of a Constitutional Amendment to address the Electoral and Party List Systems,

The Free and widespread distribution of the Constitution of Guyana to every citizen,

The vexed issue of campaign financing and political party responsibilities at election time; and

A review of the Termination of Pregnancy Act.

We expect to work to win the support of all parties in the advancement of our agenda even as we are expected to support the agenda of others.

To us in the AFC Mr. Speaker we strongly and passionately believe in the cause of bringing freedom to the people. Most important to us at this time is the freedom of the citizenry to have information that will impact their lives; information that will allow them to make informed decisions. We hope in the not too distant future to announce to the nation that we have managed to arrive at a modus vivendi with the PPP/C government that will see the bill before the house moving off from its stationery position unto a faster track for action and implementation. More of that will be forthcoming.

Mr. Speaker, towards the end of his presentation, the Prime Minister stated that if ever there was a time the government needed a “see far” man it was now. This Mr. Speaker are the expressions of blind resignation and an admission of abject failure and are enough to call on the Prime Minister and his Ministers to tender their resignation if they are now publicly admitting what most others know that they are incapable of effective governance, and that the system of centralized uni-party control is not only anachronistic, but inapplicable in the Guyana context.

We know that this budget will be passed by a simple majority of this house because this is the established practice of our democracy as practiced in this Assembly. It is not the very essence, but the bitterest bile of the type of democracy we practice here in Guyana. It is the type of democracy where despite our inherited and inherent differences as peoples comprising the nation state, those who meet the threshold of 51% are given the sacred right and duty to govern for all. While those who number 49% are kept out and away from the decision making process. We engage in a dance of semantics and obfuscation about being inclusive and progressive manifested in committee meetings, meaningless consultations, and regular sittings of parliament.

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” (Winston Churchill). There is no shortage of courage in this house on either side. The people want us to sit down and to speak. We have to have the courage to engage in a wider discussion on governance not the type that sees just two people in an incestuous embrace, feathering their personal nests, but the type that reaches out to all people, to all their representatives- along secular, religious, social, and religious lines. Any approach other than the people’s one Mr. Speaker, will not receive the approbation and acceptance of the people and will be strenuously resisted.

Change Mr. Speaker is an imperative if we are to survive, and secure the survival of generations to come.

RGCT

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