This week on What the People Say we asked persons to share their views about this year’s budget. Here are their responses:
Photos and interviews by Shabna Rahman
Alfred Stephens, security
officer/pensioner
‘As a pensioner I agree with the new government and what they plan. This is the first time we had a proper budget. I think the $1200 increase for pensioners is quite reasonable, more than the $500 we used to get. I agree with the reduction of tax on the new tyres. The reduction in price for the GuyOil gas is also good but the drivers of hire cars and minibuses are still holding out for price. I still have to read more on the budget’.
Anthony David, taxi driver,
‘I had a look at the newspapers and I see they have an increase in old age pension which is good. I also see that there is a ban on certain vehicles but I don’t know what good that would do for the country. About banning the importation of used tyres, I think that is where it would be hard on the small man who can’t afford a new tyre.
`I would like to see more investment in youth in the areas of sport, history of Guyana and culture so that Guyana can sell more; to make people more cognizant of the country. We need more recreational facilities for the youth. We also want scholarships to be given to those who deserve and a school to be established for dropouts. We can bring them from stage to stage so they can play a great role in society and Guyana as a whole. The government should also be more forceful in enforcing the laws.’
Anita Singh,
market vendor,
‘I don’t even know what is going on with the budget but as a vendor I find this market [Bourda] to be real rough; business is very slow. When we buy our load and bring it here, we hardly get sale and we have to take it home back. People are not getting money so where they would get money to spend. This time is hard and I want the economy to get better. Government should pay the nurses and the teachers more money.’
Hetty Mc Garrell, vendor,
‘I am a single woman and I do a little business here at Bourda market to maintain myself. Right now the business is a bit slow but I can’t give up. I sell snacks here and I also pick bush medicine for cold and other sickness from the East Coast and I put it on my head and walk and sell it. I didn’t get to follow the budget so I can’t say anything about that but I see the city looks clean. I would like to see the cost of living drop so that the poor people can afford to survive.’
Vivekanand Ganpat,
businessman,
‘I agree that they should ban the used tyres; they cause a lot of accidents on the road. It should be of a little standard but that is not the case; they bring all the trash in Guyana. The new tyres are more durable, they last longer and you save money in the long run. Rather than buying one every six months for $6,000, you spend enough money and buy a new one. So that is one of the good things in the budget. I also agree with the $1200 increase on old age pension but they should put back the subsidy on electricity and water bills. They’re putting pressure on the pensioners. They barely have enough to eat, where would they get the money? The $55,000 threshold is good but if it was $60,000 it would have been better.’
Basmattie Brijlall, vendor,
‘I am a mother of three and two of my children attend nursery school. I think they should bring back the school vouchers; it helps out parents a lot. I have to spend $2000 every week to send my children to nursery school, plus I have to give them snacks and still give them $100 every day for their own use.
The paddy price should also go up back because all the farmers are crying; the price is too low and it is not working out. They [government] promised to raise the price… We need electricity in Parika Backdam. They only put current up to a part and where I’m living over the trench doesn’t have. The place is really dark and we need streetlights too. There are many houses there but they [Guyana Power & Light] want us to buy our own post. It would cost us $40,000 to $60,000. We cannot afford that because we have to find money for the wire and fittings and the meter and then we have to pay to wire the house. If they give us the free posts we can save the money for the other expenses. The road is also in a terrible condition; only up to a part was fixed. When it rains we have to walk in deep mud. People who have vehicles have to park on the next road and walk home.’
Mark Gilbert,
security officer,
‘I didn’t get to study the budget too much but I heard that it is a good one. When we scrutinize it we would realize where it is propelling us. I would go with the ban on the importation of used tyres. The taxi and minibus owners especially need to buy new tyres because they have people’s lives at stake. If you’re operating, you have to operate at a level.’
Troy Johnson, vendor,
‘I think the government has a right to ban the used tyres because firstly, the businesspeople have to sell it reasonable but they are exploiting people. So I’m glad that the government would ban it and they have to start selling brand new tyres from now. The auto sale dealers are selling the used spare parts very expensive. And they’re bringing old vehicles since 1992 and selling them and making $1M on each one. They government has to get them to control prices for the items so that it could suit the average person. In the case of the raise of salary, it has to be bargained by the union. If the government makes a decision to give an increase without carrying it to the board of the union it would cause a conflict like what happen the other day. So it is best that they keep on the right track instead of people having to condemn them for doing the wrong thing. The tax threshold is good. Remember we have to start from somewhere and maintain it and keep developing it instead of just criticizing it.’
Naseer Ahmad, architect,
‘From what I’m seeing, when you look at the people in the government they are all rich people in the top bracket. And when you look at the budget, it is not so much of the poor man or working class budget, but a rich man’s budget. That is how I see it. Take for example when a person would pay $5000 for a used tyre, he would now have to pay $20,000 for a new one. I have a vehicle where the new tyre is $45,000 and the used one is $15,000 so to buy four of those tyres it would be $190,000. When you look at the increase for the pensioners, it is just a little pittance. Let us say they want to visit their relatives in Berbice, by the time they pay passage to go there and come back the entire pension is finished. The pensioners are not getting the benefits like they used to, with regards to the subsidy that was taken away from them. Coming to the sugar estate, while it is good that they are subsidizing for the people in Linden why can’t they do the same for the sugar estates. And I think one of the reasons that the sugar estate run down is because it is not managed properly. You can’t blame a government. If you’re the head of the home and you leave your wife to manage the home and the children and when you come home you see your children all over the place, who should be you blame? It is the mother who is at home; she is the home economist. And I see in the estates, when they contract work out, they tend to lose more. They don’t get value for money. I grew up on a sugar estate and in my days they used to have their own carpenters, their own welders, almost everything. Today everything is being contracted out and that is one of the biggest detriments. They used to have their own trucks to take the workers to the backdam but today they are contracting trucks. They have all the skilled staff. Coupled with that, you have some of these same rice farmers who help to bring the sugar estates down because they encourage the managers to steal the manure and other items and sell it to them for almost half of the price. I have seen it from a little boy growing up and until today it is happening. So these are the things that bring the sugar estate down. I don’t see the reason for them to close the estate. Look at the management part of it, see where they err and correct it. I call on the government to look back at the situation with the Wales estate; don’t close it down.’
Imtiaz Bacchus,
construction worker,
‘I think the budget is bad because it is not suitable for poor people. Where poor people would get money to buy new tyres, get houses and build houses? They should have raised the old age pension some more because $1200 is no kind of money. One of the good things the government would do is to give the driver’s licence free to people over 65. Why the government has to wait on the union to raise the public servants’ salary when they raised theirs without union’s decision. This is doctorship and it is not fair.
The fuel prices are hovering from over $800 – $900. All over the Caribbean most countries are feeling the benefits of the reduced prices, I think it is US$30 per barrel and it used to be US$100, that is 70% decrease. We are not experiencing a 70% decrease in fuel though, not even half. Therefore electricity is the same per kilowatt, manufacturing cost is the same or maybe even higher. So if you notice, imported stuff is cheaper and people are buying more imported stuff. Then the manufactures of the local companies would be at a loss all the time. People are losing job. They are not dropping the fuel prices. We living a better life on the imported stuff rather than supporting our local products. Therefore our economy would keep falling. They don’t look at it like that. If the fuel prices drop manufacturers would open more industries. If the Guyana Power & Light drops the electricity rates the cost for production would not be so high and the competition to export would be better. You can’t compete with people and you punishing to manufacture stuff.’