Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo yesterday sought to assure that government will work diligently to ensure that the remaining promises from its first 100-days plan are fulfilled.
“By and large the government had kept its promises,” Nagamootoo told reporters at a press conference at the Public Buildings called in part to update the media on the implementation of the 21-point plan.
“I cannot now give you a timeframe in terms of days and weeks but it is going to be a dynamic process that we intend to peruse all the plans, which we have embarked upon, that are partially-fulfilled or work in progress, we are going to be pursuing them diligently,” he added. Others have been partially fulfilled.
Yesterday marked the first 100 days in office for the David Granger-led administration and based on an assessment done by Stabroek News only nine of the 21 promised undertakings have been fulfilled. However a few of these are dependent on the passage of the national budget, which is still being considered by the National Assembly.
Noting that he had given an update on each of the promises outlined in the plan during his contribution to the budget debate in the wee hours of Saturday morning, Nagamootoo reiterated that in cases where there was not a complete implementation, he had given reasons. One example he cited was the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission, which would need the support of the opposition in the National Assembly.
Nagamootoo lauded the government for its decision to reveal the plan. “Not in my 53 years in public life have I seen any political party be this bold as this APNU+AFC coalition to put in writing what it intended to do within 100 days and that should go to the credit, to the extent to which these have been kept, to the character of this government… and that it [the government] will get things done, even though we had been almost challenged by unforeseen circumstances,” he said.
Asked how soon government will be able to honour the remaining promises, Nagamootoo said that many of the promises are tied to the approval of the estimates. “We will seek to work out the lines of cooperation with the opposition to deal with issues like the (Public) Procurement Commission and also the issue of how we are to proceed in the future with the constitutional reform process,” he said.
Apart from the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission, other unfulfilled promises include the failure to hold a national women’s conference, the convening of the National Youth Council, and the liberalisation of the Telecommunications and ICT sectors.
The implementation of a phased reduction of VAT and the removal of this tax from food items, the return of a television station to Lindeners and the setting of a date for the early holding of Local Government Elections are among partially fulfilled promises.
The list of fulfilled promises include the reduction of the Berbice Bridge toll, which takes effect from September, salary increases for government workers and the reduction of the president’s pension and other benefits.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon, during a post-Cabinet press briefing last Friday, gave government an “A grade” for its efforts in implementing the plan.
