Former President of Guyana Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday lashed out at the opposition for cutting the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) funds from the budget and said it will hold the country back and retard growth.
Jagdeo was speaking at the opening of the new $700 million Chief Office of the New Building Society (NBS) at the corner of North Road and Avenue of the Republic.
In his first major statement here since demitting office, Jagdeo said that the LCDS funds – in the amount of $18 billion – was “unconscionably” cut from the budget. He noted that in addition to this, the opposition APNU and AFC also cut funding intended for the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) Project and for the specialty hospital. “It is vindictiveness,” Jagdeo said.
To show the progress that Guyana has made over the years, the former President contrasted the fortunes of Guyana with that of developed countries such as Greece and others that are in economic turmoil.
“There is an assault on things that will keep the economy growing,” said Jagdeo. “We must be courageous enough to support the President,” said Jagdeo, referring to current President Donald Ramotar, who was also in attendance.
He said that many things were written about him and he has refused to respond to them. He did not say what these were but there has been frequent public commentary suggesting that he has an influential role at the Office of the President, something that President Ramotar addressed last week when he said that Jagdeo was not steering the ship of state.
Jagdeo said that vindictive people had launched an assault against the NBS for wanting to expand its services. He, however, hoped that its leadership will move to expand it further.
Speaking after his predecessor, President Ramotar said that the NBS has created its own niche in the housing market. He called NBS a market leader in the provision of loans.
The President said that it is a dream of many people to rid themselves of a landlord in acquiring their own home. “Behind every application is often a dream. The government will continue to make the dreams of the ordinary citizen a reality,” he said.
But the President urged that greater checks be made to ascertain who is eligible for a house lot so that only deserving persons received them.
Also speaking at the event, Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh said that government has long recognised the importance of a well-managed financial system. He said that part of this successful financial architecture was bringing the NBS under the purview of the Bank of Guyana. He said that the NBS has made a contribution to the growth of the housing sector.
The Minister stated that the new head office represents a signal of confidence in the Guyanese economy.
Immediate Past Chairman of the Board of Directors of NBS Dr. Nanda K. Gopaul said that the Society’s assets have grown over the years – from a modest $100 million in 1983 to $45 billion today. “The growth [has come] because of the aggressive housing drive [by government], through aggressive marketing and through the establishment of seven offices,” he explained. He said that the NBS has removed all of the bottlenecks with regards to processing home loans and no one with a house lot in their name will be denied a loan.
Gopaul said that there has been a greater demand for higher level loans and the NBS is seeking clearance from the authorities to increase its ceiling from $12 million to $15 million. “Right now we have a serious problem with liquidity on our hands. We want to utilise [that liquidity] for other loans,” he said.
The Chairman said that it was then President Jagdeo who around the time of the sod turning in January 2009 came up with the conceptualisation of the building. Further, he said that the NBS received permission from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport to restore and upkeep the Non-Aligned Movement busts next to the new property.
