Backseat
It is not often that so many issues of capital budgeting are discussed as stories in their own right in the newspapers, even though matters of public spending are reported upon quite frequently. Such matters usually take a backseat to the more dramatic and sensational news of crime, piracy and disasters, natural or manmade.
More prominent have been concerns about project performance and not so much about the cost and benefits of the project. When the discussion is about performance, it is usually a signal that Guyanese agree with the project, but do not like how the work was done. Of late, there has been an intensified scrutiny and criticism of a collection of investment projects in which concerns have been expressed about the soundness of the decisions themselves.
The debate and analysis are concentrated around the construction of the Marriott Hotel and the