Newcomer Vickram Bharrat told the National Assembly on Thursday that the coalition government has “signalled its intention to kill sugar.”
In his maiden presentation on the debate of Budget 2017, the PPP/C MP claimed that “sugar is too big to fail,” and questioned, “Where is the investment? Where is the plan? Where is the vision?”
He urged the government to “tell the people of Guyana what is being done to make sugar viable again” and wondered if the people of the country are “awaiting its natural death, a death that will be mourned by almost 20% of this country’s population,” noting that over 100,000 Guyanese depend directly or indirectly on this sector.
He told Speaker of the House Dr Barton Scotland that Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe, in her presentation, accepted that “sugar estates should not be closed down but modernized so as to reduce production costs in order to compete with international markets.”
He questioned whether the minister was part of the budget preparation and whether she was present when the decision was taken to close the Wales estate.
In January this year, government made an announcement via a press release of its plans to close the Wales estate, much to the distress of 1,700 workers who would be displaced and are fearful for their future.
Bharrat argued too that the budget lacks the support to the major productive sectors and said there was no policy on how to encourage future growth.
Pointing out that these sectors are failing, he said that four of the main sectors have declined: forestry by 33 per cent, sugar 18 per cent, rice 12.6 per cent and construction 7 per cent.
“The decline of these bedrock economic sectors has resulted in significant unemployment that is having a domino effect on the economy,” Bharrat said. “What is even more frightening, is that there is no projected growth in the near future and the government seems clueless, totally at sea and it is not the Red Sea.”
He declared that “the only surviving sector is mining and this is mainly due to the two major foreign companies brought in by the PPP/C administration that are now being pressured into submission as well.”
On this note, he argued that the APNU/AFC Government “has failed miserably to attract a single substantial investment whether local or foreign since taking office.”
He pointed out that Budget 2017 should have kept the manifesto promises made and “not give with one hand and take with another.”
He was referring to the announcement by Minister of Finance Winston Jordan that Value-Added Tax (VAT) would be reduced by 2 per cent and the declaration afterwards that 14 per cent VAT will be charged on water and electricity consumption of over $1,500 and over $10,000 respectively and the removal of zero-rated items.
He also said that the government should have listened to the “concerns of stakeholders and addressed them via the budget measures, and this includes increases for public servants, as well as sugar workers who have had no increase for the last two years; the first time ever since independence.”
He called on the government to “pay the one month bonus to public servants and sugar workers they previously enjoyed under the PPP, so that our people can have calm Christmas before the storm of budget 2017.”
Bharrat said that there should be a reduction of the number of tax measures and government should instead, pursue initiatives that would generate wealth, jobs and, as a result, also government revenues.
“Mr Speaker,” he said, “Many Guyanese are disappointed that many promises and three budgets later, this government is yet to deliver…”
