President of the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce Mohammed Raffik stressed on Friday that every single Guyanese must benefit from the revenue from Guyana’s impending oil production.
Speaking at the opening of the 15th Berbice Expo and Trade Fair, Raffik said he wanted to see the government “do something for the ordinary men and women of this country, the ordinary workers” from the expected revenue. “I am looking forward for the next government to raise the tax threshold to at least $100,000, which means I would like the government to take some of the money they are going to make from the oil and raise the income tax threshold,” he said.
He added, that he would also like to see the taxes on petrol products reduced. “If the cost of gas goes down, it’s going to have an immediate impact on every single person in this country,” he said.
Raffik also said that he was hopeful that the next government selected will be extremely vigilant in supervising the oil com-panies operating here. “We from the Chamber of Commerce are keeping a very close look at what is going on, we are keeping ourselves informed and even if the politicians do not represent you, we are going to ensure in our own way that whatever money comes from oil goes to the right places,” he said.
“Every citizen of this country should ensure—that is why we should always keep reading and following the news—that government is accountable to us, because government should always be accountable to the people,” he added.
Raffik also said that it is important to ensure that the investment climate within a country is one that is always conducive to investments. He said that whichever party is selected to govern next, the Guyanese populace can only hope that “they are going to put together a good environment for our country so that things can move and our country can move”.
Meanwhile, Director of Business Dominic Gaskin, who also spoke at the opening ceremony, said the economic outlook for Guyana is exceptionally positive, and all of Guyana will benefit from the oil resources of the country.
According to a report from the Department of Public Information (DPI), Gaskin also said that since oil may only be around for about three or four decades, the country must use the resources derived from it to secure the future of the country for long afterward. “We need to make sure that we use our oil wealth to strengthen our other sectors, such as agriculture, agro- processing, tourism and other services which are sustainable well beyond the life of our oil,” he was quoted as saying.
Pointing to the need for proper management of the nation’s oil resources and the
necessity to guard against corruption, Gaskin gave the assurance that all revenues received by the government will go directly to the Natural Resources Fund and can only be withdrawn with parliamentary approval after a stringent process. He stressed that the fund would ensure transparency of the utilisation of the oil resources.
The DPI report said Gaskin also highlighted the introduction of the Local Content Policy, which he said is about Guyanese benefitting from opportunities that are created through oil exploration and production. “We must benefit from more than just the royalty and our share of the profits; we must benefit from the employment of Guyanese and the use of Guyanese suppliers; but in order to benefit, we have to be able to provide the goods, services and labour that the industry requires and to meet the standard of the industry,” he noted.
Gaskin said the Local Content Policy has to ensure that once the capacity exists in Guyana, Guyanese get first consideration for those jobs and contracts. He added that where there is no local capacity to provide skills and services, action must be taken to build that capacity. “Local content is not a political issue,” he emphasised. “Local content is about Guyanese benefitting from Guyanese oil.”
He is also reported as saying that the government is keen on providing support for the private sector since it is the private sector that drives the economy and employment. The private sector, he added, must be robust enough to res-pond to the changes in our economy that we see on the horizon. The Director also shared the need for Guya-nese to remain in Guyana to develop the country.
The Berbice Expo and Trade Fair will run until Monday.
