Dear Editor,
My previous letters on the government’s management of the affairs of Guyana have been less than flattering. Yet, based on the seemingly glowing half-year performance presented by Finance Minister Ashni Singh, everything seems to be running smoothly, all things considered. Well, all these fancy statistics, which is what they are to me, translate into nothing for the man in the street looking to improve his lot in this life. Talking to this government is like shaking a very big fruit tree out of season. The long and short of the economy’s performance is that it’s a patch job, with nothing organized or directed at addressing the biggest bone of contention in Guyana’s economic policy framework – job creation.
What does an increase in rice production mean to the man looking for a job? What does the fall in gold production mean for the man looking for a job? What do all the other increases and decreases in the report mean to the man in the street looking for a job? Nothing, nothing, nothing. All of government’s efforts over the last two decades have been a waste of time, with just enough to keep us nodding and looking forward for more. These efforts have been mirrored in the first six months of this year.
The fact is that government has done little, if anything, to generate the level of investment and job creation in the private sector necessary to lift Guyana out of its current financial and welfare slump. And it will not do so. Examining the case of Linden and Georgetown, it has proved itself to be racially biased and vindictive, looking after its supporters, as reflected in the allocation of resources across the regions, and Georgetown’s filthy and poorly managed environment. The rest of the country has to live on its propaganda.
The PPP is content to maintain the status quo of poor living standards, in addition to which there are the issues of its abuse of power, its manipulation of the courts, and the President’s refusal to assent to certain bills passed in Parliament as a consequence of the opposition majority.
Government has spent the first six months of this year playing politics and wasting and mismanaging our tax dollars, the latest victim apparently being the operations of the University of Guyana. The Finance Minister, instead of returning to Parliament with bills to release funds to maintain the smooth operation of the university, is being difficult over the projects specifically voted down by Parliament. The apparent objective is to blame the opposition, the people’s majority representation, for the financial chaos and dysfunctionality of this and other programmes.
Well, we the people can sit down and let them continue to scuttle our country for their divisive ends.
Yours faithfully,
Craig Sylvester
