I was listening to the television broadcast of the budget speech when during the presentation of Basil Williams of the PNCR as he was dealing with the wages of the working people, someone from the government side shouted that the PNC had 28 years to deal with it.
Now this is not only ridiculous but absolutely unacceptable. Even if we were to grant the first term as having to deal with pre ’92, today about eighteen years after, we have to deal with what can be done given the situation and level of resources, and what is not being done because of the manner of governance that is presently being practised.
If we had the IMF to blame then for the imposition of anti-working class measures we do not have it to blame now. But the government seems bent on pursuing the same path that pressures the working class, impoverishes them, generates a huge gap between the haves and the have nots, in betrayal of the PPP’s stated ideology and Jagan’s legacy.
Interestingly the members of the ‘Creep,’ (Committee for the Re-election of the President [Hoyte]), who were seen as anathema, are now the best friends of those in government. They are being hugged in public, while members of the PPP who were in the trenches and made tremendous sacrifices are being shunted aside, and seem unable to even gain audience with the present ministers who with inflated egos and heads swollen with arrogance strut the country like colossuses.
In the beginning I defended the government and attacked the IMF for imposing the ‘Washington Consensus,’ which had as one of its conditions fiscal austerity and in particular wage restraint.
As I stated in one of my letters, the Western countries threw international Keynesianism out of the window, especially since they were also in crisis. Rather than the idea of using government intervention to increase spending so as to maintain aggregate demand by providing credit, they pursued a policy of demanding credit and fiscal restraint. They reinforced the entrenchment of underdevelopment in the existing world order; strengthened traditional exports in the face of a collapse in prices; and adjusted by restraining wages, removing subsidies, cutting government services, and retrenching workers.
Today we have no signed agreement but unfortunately demonstrate no vision and especially no care for the workers as we continue the policy of wage restraint.
The past years have seen no increase in the income tax allowance. Then we have VAT. One of the reasons is to have those who do not pay taxes, pay. But is this not admitting gross failure to widen the tax net to include all those who are escaping the tax net? Should we not spend money to make money and so equip the GRA with the necessary legal and accounting personnel to go after the tax evaders? While we hear about the increases in tax collection it would be interesting to be informed of how many were and are now within the tax net, so we can gauge the performance of the GRA.
A lot of money is spent on education. We have been filled with the idea that education can save us, but we have seen thousands graduate from high school with no jobs available. We produce thousands of graduates in fields where we have no jobs available. In a discussion with two hopeful presidential candidates of the PPP I mentioned that we should establish the law school. They indicated that we have too many lawyers and that we need more engineers. These presidential hopefuls did not see themselves to be blamed that as executive members of the ruling party they should have seen to it that our education system was restructured to produce the engineers. Except for progress in a quantitative way there has been no real qualitative change to cater for the needs of Guyana and provide a diversified work force by ensuring that real delivery of education takes place.
In the area of taxation those with children are given no relief. The children of the poor, especially, suffer as there is no allowance for them. How could the parents put them properly through school? We need to reintroduce a progressive tax regime, or some form of subsidy for each child going to school – in fact for each child, in cases where the income of the parent is below a certain level. I may not have a solution, but a solution needs to be developed and implemented if this government wants to be regarded in any way as caring.
In any event, I need to emphasise that the burden of taxes on the employed is oppressive. I am hoping Komal, Lewis and the others in FITUG could get back on track; get off the politics and organize the working people to demand tax relief.
The government has got to stop easing the pressure from the banking system by sterilising funds or the government should utilize these funds to invest so as to create jobs. The private sector has serious economic, cultural restraints reducing its effectiveness to create jobs and ensure development. Unfortunately Jagan’s ideas of a tri-sectoral economy have been cast aside, in addition to other aspects of his legacy lost within the shout “Jagan lives!”
While many have already seen the light, other members of the PPP have got to begin to understand how the government has imposed paramountcy over the PPP and unless progressives who have been marginalized are put back into the leadership then Jagan’s legacy and the working class interest would continue to be thrown to the dogs by the government. If this does not take place then we have to make some hard but necessary choices with regard to the PPP if we want to ensure a future for the children of Guyana. It does seem that it has retained the form but has lost the real working class content.
The way Moses Nagamootoo has been kept out of the executive is a case in point. It is up to him how he will deals with this. He definitely got a resounding yes from the vast majority of delegates at the last congress, and if one were to discount the hundreds of Amerindian delegates who vote as instructed, the percentage would have been rosier for him.
Recently Navin Chandarpal has been dealt with. O’Lall was dealt with and he died. Various senior members of the PPP have accepted that I was given a raw deal because I am usually critical of the way things are done at internal forums. Recently I went public and stated my concerns on ‘Spotlight,’ Channel 9 and the AFC’s programme, and I was dealt with ‘condignly.’
The actions of members of the PPP, and Moses, Navin and others also, may determine whether we sink as a divided nation or float in unity in a movement as a collective to develop the resources of our country for the benefit of all.
I should note that the government is no longer PPP/C but Civic PPP. The PPP congress decided 20 per cent Civic, but we are above 60 per cent. And it should be recognized that the Civic is not a body that coordinates and presents a position, but a loose arrangement by which anybody may be selected. It’s not unusual that nepotism, favouritism and friendism serve as the basis of selection. In many instances there are far more qualified persons within the PPP itself.
Yours faithfully,
Rajendra Bisessar
