Dear Editor,
Christmas is around the corner and the watchword is ‘careful how you spend,’ because things are not that good for businesses, households and individuals; the pay increases from the sugar worker to the shoe clerk are small and not conducive to enjoying a good holiday season. The lack of a good circulation of money in the economy is indicative of pressing times for most of the Guyanese population and if the ‘small’ man can’t spend, then the whole economy is affected and the downward cycle we’re seeing will not let up; thus the holidays become a period of concern for all instead of a celebration after a year of hard work.
The most affected are our children whom we all try to reward with gifts (besides love and gratitude for their presence in our lives) with surprises built in; gifts which cost quite a bit of our paycheques and our time in selecting the appropriate ones. Not to mention the finances it takes to prepare for the holidays – painting touch-ups in the home, family gatherings with the food and drinks, the decorations and the Christmas tree the exchanges of gifts with friends and other family members.
The results of the downturn in our economy will reverberate into the business community, creating more unemployment and a lack of bonuses, resulting in less spending power and a further slowdown. With a drop in remittances from abroad (down almost 38%) the situation becomes more critical to the ordinary folks who, I repeat, are the ones who really drive the economy forwards. For businesses, the Christmas season is the most profitable and the most productive, so with a slowdown in the economy, the new year will bring a serious lack of expansion and job creation, thus setting the stage for dim prospects in 2010 as a whole.
With the situation so bad in the sugar industry and the resulting losses in foreign currency earnings, the financial situation for Guyana will become more unfavourable when one combines this factor with those listed above.
The rice and timber industries will falter as the deepening recession affects all the economic pillars of our country in 2010 and strike action will intensify, leading to more losses nationwide (this has already started in 2009 in the sugar industry), thus undermining the general morale of the work force. The serious problems affecting GuySuCo and the poor treatment meted out to the struggling sugar workers is indicative of the alarming situation in the sugar industry which will become less competitive and thus earn less for the country. The manufacturing industry in Guyana is at a standstill, while durable goods, consumer goods and other necessities are all foreign made and imported, displacing local goods and causing serious financial problems for the local producer; this does not bode well for the future of the self-sufficiency and self-reliance we all envision for the Guyanese people.
Which entity controls all the resources and money in this land? Which entity is the first, second, third, fourth… richest in Guyana? The answer is easy: the government of course. Look at all the cars driving around and imagine the duties collected by this government; look at the Lotto and all the money collected by them; look at all the free money for aid and assistance from international agencies and countries; look at all the timber money, gold and diamonds’ money; all the taxes from VAT and other sources and the list could go on and on! Billions and billions of dollars in the government’s coffers and no ‘big bamboo’ for us, the regular folks! Our city is falling apart and we should enjoy a good Christmas? Our people are crying out for relief and we should enjoy a good Christmas?
Our brothers and sisters are crying out for betterment in the bauxite and sugar industries and should we enjoy a good Christmas? Yes, Editor, the government really owns almost everything in this country with their communist/socialist ideology – the land, the rivers, the coastline, the forests and the most money by far.
So, Editor, this government should do things just as President Obama is doing in America to stimulate that economy (and it works) by giving up some of all that money they control. Give the workers a bigger bonus and pay increases; give financial support through low interest loans (from the Bank of Guyana) to struggling businesses; give to the university so that our students can be better prepared; give to start-up companies so that new jobs can be created, just as Obama is doing; give to the arts for cultural stimulation and increased recreation; give to the elderly for they deserve a good Christmas and better 2010; give year-end tax breaks to the biggest business concerns down to the regular folks in the civil service so that our economy can be stimulated and jump-started for 2010; give government low interest loans to regular folks so that they can build their homes (are only the rich and better-off people in our society able to live in decent housing?); do as President Obama is doing to ease the financial crisis which is ‘killing’ the small man and which the government has got to play a leadership role in.
Editor, the bottom line for all of us is our children, and unless this government follows the path of Obama as he clears up the financial mess in America by intervening positively in the economy, our children will face 2010 with less optimism for the future.
It is time that this government takes care of all the people and set the stage for a better Christmas in the next year, because they have failed to ‘obamaze’ our economy for a 2009 revival. Because of the positive economic interventions by government which are so successful in Asia, Europe and America, and led by Obama, we have a blueprint for the handling of economic crises, and we should follow these success stories as we engage our future.
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr)
