The opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) yesterday launched an outline of its 2020 elections manifesto, with both promises of more jobs and a reduced cost of living and appeals to non-supporters to give its ideas a fair hearing.
The outline, which can be found on the party’s Facebook page, proposes to create 50,000 jobs over five years and reverse several tax measures implemented by the APNU+AFC coalition government. It also proposed to implement several measures that have been the subject of intense public debate, such as cash transfers to citizens from oil revenue, renegotiations of oil and gas contracts, reopening of sugar estates closed by the current government and a resuscitation of the defunct Amaila Falls Hydropower Project.
During the launch at the party’s Freedom House headquarters in Georgetown yesterday afternoon, PPP/C Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali appealed to the public to give the party a chance to prove itself. “To those who may not have historically supported us, at least give us a chance, an opportunity to be heard. Give us an opportunity through this document to reach into your hearts, to reach into your homes so that you can analyse the plans that we have, so that you can make a more informed decision,” Ali said.
According to Ali, the plan is geared at bringing sustainable prosperity to every Guyanese “as we move our country forward together.”
Describing the strategy as holistic, systematic, targeted, results-oriented, people-centred and people-driven, he stressed that the views from various stakeholders, including farmers, fishermen, students and members of the diaspora, were included in the policy and positions outlined.
“This plan is time-bound and it is very targeted. You will see specific initiatives for women, children, farmers, miners, the forestry sector, the oil and gas sector, and issues that are specific to our society… the plan has specific targeted outcomes, targeted initiatives that will examine each issue in a holistic way… specific measurable targets for which they will be accountable,” Ali said.
He stressed that the party has chosen to launch this outline more than three months before the elections date of March 2, 2020 to allow their plans to stand the test of scrutiny. The final document is to be released in January.
“Examine it, question it, seek clarification where necessary,” he advised, before adding that the party believes the manifesto is a contract and the party stands ready to fulfil its obligations.
According to Ali, each policy included in the outline and the manifesto itself is both realistic and implementable, with targeted outcomes linked to economic development.
Speaking specifically on job creation, Ali noted that the intention is to provide Guyanese with more jobs, particularly geared towards those with higher education, and vocational skills. “When we speak of the economy and jobs, we are not only talking about the creation of jobs, but we are speaking about the creation of higher paid jobs, higher up the value scale and for this, it requires investor confidence, it requires us pushing boundaries and pushing the envelope and it requires us training our human capacity and changing the system, the education output, to meet the economic requirement of our country. For this to happen, we must have a strong analysis of the gap, as to where we want to be as against what we have to take us there” Ali said.
The outline further explained that while the public sector will continue to be a “major” employer, the private sector will be further incentivised to create more and better paying jobs.
“The PPP/C will provide the enabling environment and incentives for expansion of existing businesses and emergence of new businesses by removing obstacles to business growth, offering a fiscal regime that encourages investment, providing an empowering regulatory framework in which businesses can operate in a globally competitive manner and promoting skills-training to provide employers with a pool of highly trained and skilled human resources,” the manifesto promises.
Ali has repeatedly promised to create 50,000 new jobs and the outline lists 15 policies and measures which will be implemented to achieve this objective. Included in these measures are improved access to financing for investment, the establishment of a National Job Bank and Labour Exchange and the provisions of more incentives for small businesses and young entrepreneurs including micro-credit facilities.
‘Real concerns’
Also speaking at the launch was Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who also extolled the virtues of his party’s plans. Jagdeo stressed that while the outline includes lofty goals, it also deals with real concerns.
“Every single idea is implementable, has been costed and will be implemented,” he declared. However when asked later about the actual costing, Ali could not answer.
“These policies were analysed. We have satisfied ourselves that they are implementable; that within the budgetary framework of our country they are implementable,” Ali said in response to the question.
Both he and Jagdeo stressed that the intention is to change the unsustainable economic policy currently being employed, which he described as using high taxation and borrowing to finance large budgets.
Speaking on specific measures, Jagdeo noted that a PPP/C government will work to improve the health and education sectors by improving the public system and offering tax incentives to private providers.
The party has expressed the intention of removing the corporate tax from income arising from the provision of private health care services and from sums paid for tuition at private facilities providing education from the nursery to tertiary levels.
In fact, a significant number of the measures in the manifesto appear to revolve around removal of a specific tax.
In order to create jobs the party plans to reverse Value Added Tax (VAT) on export, building materials and data. The productive sector is to be “rescued” by the reversal of VAT on machinery and equipment in the mining sector, the forestry sector and the rice sector and the reversal of increases in the costs of licences and permits for doing business and accessing government services, which were raised in 2015.
In the oil and gas sector, the manifesto is promising to create a framework for proper management of the resource, foster transparency and accountability and secure benefits for Guyanese.
Notably, the party is proposing to implement targeted cash transfers to Guyanese, particularly the elderly, children, the poor and other vulnerable groups. This measure, first proposed by the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a member of the governing coalition, has been hotly debated for more than a year, with the WPA identifying it as their key policy position.
The party has also proposed to immediately engage the oil and gas companies in re-negotiations of contracts that have been contentious. There has been major controversy over the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement with ExxonMobil subsidiary EEPGL.
Other planned measures include the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund insulated from political interference, competitive tendering or auctioning oil blocks and establishment of a model Production Sharing Agreement based on industry wide standards and best practices to ensure that Guyanese receive maximum benefit from these contracts without disincentivising foreign investors in the sector.
In order to prevent oil money from being squandered, the PPP/C has proposed to uphold the Santiago Principles of transparency and accountability, criminalise non-disclosure of receipt of funds from oil revenues, ensure annual reports from the government are laid in the National Assembly detailing oil revenues and expenditures, ensure there are regular audits and offer civil society a central role in monitoring compliance and accountability.
The controversial Amaila Falls Hydro project, which was shelved under the coalition, has also resurfaced in the PPP/C manifesto.
According to the party, it is committed to providing affordable, stable and reliable energy to benefit both households and businesses. “We will implement a programme with an energy mix that includes hydropower, solar and wind which will lead to more than 400 megawatts of newly-installed capacity for residential and commercial industrial users,” the party’s outline states.
Specific measures to achieve this objective include Amaila, an expansion of the hinterland electrification programme and an urgent upgrade of the national grid.
