With the advent of the production of oil now set to place Guyana on a significantly improved footing in terms of the availability of resources to strengthen the country’s economic sectors, President David Granger has said that this year, if re-elected, government will be moving to ease the woes of the country’s manufacturing sector by providing it with an improved level of reliability in the electricity sector and the expansion of generation of electricity from sustainable sources.
Government’s electricity supply enhancement programme also includes the extension of electrification to more rural and hinterland communities.
The President’s announcement on electricity supply enhancement, one of the focal points of his New Year message is unlikely to go unnoticed by the private sector, and specifically the manufacturing sector which, for decades have been plagued with unreliable electricity supply to the significant underachievement of the sector. Companies plagued by the both the shortage of electricity and the quality of electricity generation, over the years, have been compelled to scale down their operations to the detriment of their profitability and the competitiveness of their products on the international market.
Meanwhile, the President used his 2020 New Year address to point to other sectors in which, he says, the country’s economic growth will accelerate as production increases and the major sectors become “stronger and more resilient.”
2020, according to President Granger, promises a better year for the farming and fishing communities arising out of what he says will be “the modernization and diversification of their sectors. Additionally, the President said that the country’s mining sector, which, over the years, have been plagued by loss of life through mining accidents can anticipate “safer mining practices” in the year ahead.
Government, according to President Granger, has also set its sights on investing in improvement in education and health care while “information communications technology will be extended countrywide to link all regions and communities.”
President Granger also envisages that 2020 will see the realization of an increased number of economic opportunities, growth in disposable incomes and further increases in public servants’ pay.
Meanwhile, according to the President, this year will witness the continuation of a push to rehabilitate public infrastructure while government will continue to focus on the more housing for low-income families.
And with oil production having been realized for the first time in December, President Granger said that the development had created “the fiscal space” that allows for the intensification of “transformative projects.” With regard to the petroleum sector the President said in his address that government will ensure that petroleum revenues will be managed prudently for present and future generations…………. through a Natural Resource Fund.”
