Dear Editor,
Guyana is a country with great potential. But as Desmond Hoyte told Washington DC in 1988, potential is not real wealth. Next year, in 2016, we will be celebrating 50 years of independence. But for too much of this period, Guyana has not lived up to this potential. The country went through decades of dictatorship, now a decade of squandermania, theft and lost opportunities. These periods have left behind a bitter legacy—Guyana is the third poorest country in the Western hemisphere and close to 40 per cent of its population lives in poverty.
In 1992, there was a push for change and to rebuild the nation but unfortunately the post-Jagan era was one mired in a history of maladministration and misrule which unwound many of the gains from 1989 to 1999. The time has come finally again for change—for Guyana to finally break through and secure its future. But forging a new Guyana for a new era is a collective effort. The next government needs partnerships not political supremacy. Most importantly, the next government needs partnerships with the people. Partnerships with investors that not only want our raw materials but have the technology to add value to them right home in Guyana.
A rebirth will have its roots in diversification. Agriculture still accounts for 22 per cent of GDP and rice and sugar still accounts for almost one quarter of total export earnings. What this means is that Guyana and its people are too vulnerable —vulnerable to the forces of nature; vulnerable to the vagaries of global commodity markets as a raw material producer; vulnerable to people slipping back and forth between poverty and just getting by. Growth was too narrowly based to be inclusive, and has not effectively reduced poverty, especially in the rural areas where most people live. In short, the economy was not working for the people. This forms the backdrop to Guyana’s economic rebirth. How can we leverage economic stability, economic growth, and human development especially for rural Guyana to transform Guyana?
One must acknowledge that from the start of the ERP under Carl Greenidge in 1989, both the PNC and PPP have maintained a path of continually strengthening the financial system. The banking system remains strong and is well prepared to promote growth, but what we must acknowledge is that the majority of the Guyanese people are excluded from the financial system. As a pre-requisite reform to truly start the economic wheels spinning at the required pace of 7-8 per cent growth rates, we need more of our people involved in productive activities. For this to happen, Guyana desperately needs a State Development Bank that can engage and facilitate the smaller but risker investors to incubate their ideas into bankable projects.
Secondly, we have to focus on the successful completion of relevant infrastructure projects (reliable transport link to Lethem, Deep Water Harbour, etc). Finally the entire social sector operation has to be revamped to ensure the real beneficiaries are gaining from the dollars spent. I do not want to know that $32 billion was spent on education. What I really want to know is whether we are securing value for money spent. The evidence reveals that Guyana has one of the lowest rates of functional literacy. According to the UNDP 2014 Human Development Report, Guyana has an adult literacy rate of 85 per cent. But when one distinguishes literacy from functional literacy, Professor Zellyne Jennings-Craig from UWI, stated that only approximately 11 per cent of Guyanese students are functionally literate.
So clearly the national budget is not benefiting the poorest and the neediest. This conclusion is reinforced by how we procure medical supplies in Guyana. The true benefits of all these billion spends is captured by the well-to-do and politically connected. This clearly does not help the human development process. Progress will always be under threat by this kind of maladministration and misrule which only benefit the business cabal associated with the PPP.
Fixing this system of governance remains an urgent priority for the new government since it continues to directly impact income equality in the nation. According to the UNDP, the inequality income index for Guyana was 0.474 in 2013. Only two countries in the Western hemisphere ranked lower – Haiti and Nicaragua.
People need greater access to dietary staples. As a primary producer of rice, the new government can inexpensively provide in-kind rice assistance to the most needy. In the AFC 2011 Action Plan, one of the commitments made was to provide 1 kg of rice to all those on the Old Age Pension and Social Assistance Register. To complement that promise, the AFC committed to conduct a production audit in all Amerindian villages with a view to building their capacity in what they produce best and helping them market their output on the coast. This two pronged process is vital to attacking poverty.
In reality, economic stability is really a means to an end—stronger growth and more job creation. It is about lifting the prospects of all Guyanese producers – rice farmers, cane harvesters, etc. The key to unlocking Guyana’s potential lies in making it more competitive. This should help with diversification, allowing the country to rely less on agriculture and gain a foothold in newer and promising areas. This means making it easier for the private sector to invest, innovate, and expand. Right now, Guyana ranks poorly in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index—102nd out of 144 countries. It also means boosting investment and upgrading poor quality infrastructure, especially in renewable energy and that vital transport link from Brazil to a Deep Water Harbour on the Guyanese coastlands.
I also believe that growth can become more inclusive and I am pleased when I read about Mr Granger’s commitment to this process. This means developing and protecting robust social safety nets. It means expanding access to financial services, so everybody—including the poor—can get access to credit. It means investing in skills, training, and education to equip the next generation of Guyanese for the world that awaits them.
This must always go together with stability and growth. Indeed, we can look upon growth as merely a means to a higher end—creating the conditions for the flourishing of human potential.
True growth is human development growth – expansion of opportunity for all, political and economic freedom for all. Growth is also about ensuring that a higher percentage of our students are graduating with Grade Is and IIs at CXC, especially in the core subjects of Maths, English and the Sciences. Growth is about creating the environment to incubate new jobs for the school leavers. Growth is about increasing the number of mothers who give safe birth in a hospital, and growing the number of families who have access to a daily balanced diet.
In other words, growth is ultimately about human beings and the living condition of peoples.
How is Guyana doing on this front? Well, if we look across the all-important Millennium Development Goals, I believe that if we did not have so much corruption in the system, we would have met all of these goals by now.
As Guyana gets this opportunity to secure the dawn of its third era – (first independence, then 1992 and now 2015), it is important that we dream big and give all our people the opportunity to incubate their ideas into new wealth. After all Guyana belongs to all Guyanese.
It is within our power to turn this vision into reality. So let us redouble our efforts to leave a better world for the children of Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Sase Singh