Dear Editor,
The PPP/Civic Opposition has taken a motion of “No Confidence” against the APNU+AFC regime to the National Assembly. This seems to have caused some panic in the ranks of the governing parties. For the first time, we have seen the government boycotting the National Assembly.
The opposition motion was very well timed. It came immediately upon the results of the announcement of the Local Government Elections. It reflected the sentiments of the population as stated at the polls. The main message was that the people have lost confidence in the regime.
This should have come as no surprise to anyone. With the exception of those in the Cabinet and other senior positions, all have experienced a fall in their welfare and social status.
In just three and a half years, thousands of jobs have been lost. The biggest blow was on the sugar industry. Working people have fallen into really hard times. Some are facing starvation.
The regime has totally mismanaged the economy. Production has fallen drastically in almost every sector.
At the same time, the country’s debt has been mounting due to excessive government borrowing. Added to this, is the fact that our reserves, gold and US dollar reserve mainly, have shrunk considerably.
To add to this nation’s plight is the wasteful spending that has marked this regime’s behaviour. They have given themselves huge increases in salaries and even bigger increases in allowances. They have not only given themselves those huge increases, but also the size of the Cabinet has grown by 50%. They have been spending as though we have unlimited resources. They have increased the size of the bureaucracy greatly.
The regime has also been engaged in heavy wasteful spending. The huge D’Urban Park Stadium stands out like a monument to this cavalier type of spending. Hundreds of millions of dollars were poured into this project, which is now the largest public convenience in the country. This was totally unnecessary since the National Park could have been utilized for any major public function.
The haemorrhage of our resources is also taking place due to massive corruption in the country. There are hundreds, if not thousands of cases of this nature. The “bond” that the regime was renting at twelve million dollars per month must be regarded as one of the biggest rip offs. This was done even though this regime inherited a modern, world standard bond built by the PPP/Civic administration. That bond has a huge capacity and it is not fully utilized.
How is the regime paying for this horrible wastage? As mentioned above, they are borrowing at a reckless pace. Secondly, they are taxing the people more and more. By the end of 2017, they introduced more than two hundred new taxes and boasted of higher reserve collection. This is the real pressure on our people since this increased taxation is being imposed on a shrinking economy.
The danger too is that the increased taxation is acting as a brake on economic growth. Investments are contracting and that is contributing to the slowdown of the economy.
However, that is not enough. To pay for the excesses, the regime has taken away a lot from people, thereby, severely impacting on their welfare.
In the first place, the regime has imposed VAT on all the items that the PPP/C had zero rated. Essential food items such as peas, potatoes, etc. Items imported for educational purposes and medicines have also now attracted 14 percent value added tax. This include books, computers, and medical equipment.
They have liquidated many measures of the PPP/C to the most vulnerable in the society. The subsidies given to old age pensioners for water and electricity have been stopped. The ten thousand dollars per child attending government primary and secondary schools to assist parents has been halted as well.
The drive to extract more from the people has led them to impose VAT on equipment for mining and agriculture. This has forced many small miners to close their doors. The same has happened to small farmers. That has created huge unemployment.
The last measure, I wish to bring to the public’s attention is the deception being used by the regime.
While announcing huge budgets, they have also imposed VAT on government’s purchases. This is disguising the shortfall by 14 percent on procurement of goods and services. This measure will lead to a fall in the quantity purchases in various areas, but at higher cost.
All of these measures have seriously damaged the economy and the people’s standard of living.
Without a doubt, the Guyanese people have lost confidence in this corrupt, incompetent APNU+AFC regime.
Yours faithfully,
Donald Ramotar
Former President
