Two United States (US) Congressmen have called for more political inclusion in Guyana and the country’s wealth to benefit all of its citizens.
“Guyana’s wealth is for all the people of Guyana, irrespective of their ethnicity. I urge the current government and leaders of the opposition in the National Assembly to work together towards further strengthening Guyana’s democracy and building a more inclusive nation,” Congressman Hank Johnson said in a statement on Wednesday.
He disclosed that he has been following the catastrophic floods in Guyana and noted that while the country has experienced substantial economic growth, the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent national flooding emergency are threatening to erode some of those gains.
“It is important that every person affected by this disaster is able to receive the support they need to rebuild their lives in the shortest possible time. As a longtime friend of Guyana, I stand ready to work with international partners to support Guyana in the face of this devastating challenge,” he said.
Johnson’s statement followed that of Congressman Albio Sires, Chairman of the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, Migration and International Economic Policy, who on June 23rd said that the United States should work to ensure that the proceeds of the oil revenues benefit the entire Guyanese population.
Sires made this statement while delivering the opening remarks at the Congressional hearing he convened, entitled “The Biden Administration’s Efforts to Deepen U.S. Engagement in the Caribbean.”
“I am glad we are holding this hearing to talk about a region that is too often overlooked. The countries of the Caribbean are among our closest neighbours, yet we frequently fail to pay enough attention to this region. As Chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, I am committed to ensuring that we focus more on the Caribbean going forward. In Guyana, where I traveled last year, we should work to ensure the proceeds of oil revenues benefit the entire population. As I said during that trip, we want to engage all actors in Guyana, including businesses, civil society, the current government, and the opposition to advance inclusive economic growth,” he said.
He also said that the severe flooding that Guyana has faced in recent months is a reminder that climate change is having devastating impacts in the Caribbean, before adding that the US needs to step up their efforts to support climate resilience and energy security in the region.
In response, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira on Wednesday told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the PPP/C government will ensure that every Guyanese benefits from the proceeds of the country’s natural resources.
“We have been saying this all the time. The manifesto of the PPP/C during the election campaign and in the programmes, we brought out since, focuses on making sure that Guyanese benefit not only from oil money, but from the development of our nation, and the modernisation and expansion of our economic base,” Teixeira was quoted as saying.
She mentioned that the government has embarked on a number of initiatives, including the COVID-19 relief programme and other initiatives that accompanied the range of social programmes by the government to assist particular demographics, such as school children and Indigenous villages. This, she said, shows that the government has been working to ensure that all Guyanese benefit from the country’s wealth.
Further, Teixeira said even before regional and international bodies embarked on a nationwide assessment of the flooding situation in Guyana, the government distributed hampers, hygiene kits and cleaning materials but stated that relief efforts have been concentrated on communities that have been the most impacted.
Teixeira went on to say that the PPP/C government believes in Article 13 of the Constitution of Guyana, which speaks to the principal objective of Guyana’s political system being an inclusionary democracy, and noted that the proof can be found in this administration’s performance since it assumed office on August 2, 2020.
“We are committed to Article 13 of our Constitution. We are committed to constitutional rule of law, and participatory democracy,” she added.
Regarding working alongside the opposition, Teixeira said that this will only occur when APNU+AFC takes a mature political stance and recognises the legitimacy of the PPP/C government. The opposition coalition has refused to recognise the legitimacy of the government, while noting that this is not a constitutional prerequisite for dialogue.
Teixeira also stated that it is the APNU+AFC that is guilty of discrimination, and this is evident in the manner in which it governed the country.
“It is the APNU+AFC that has discriminated in the five years. They terminated 1,972 Amerindian community service officers. They terminated 7,000 sugar workers. 30,000 people lost their jobs in that period, including other public servants, approximately over 2,000 who lost their jobs because the colour of their skin was wrong, or the colour of their politics was wrong. We have witnessed this in the five years, and we are not going to allow that to happen again in our country,” she said.
Additionally, Teixeira noted that the APNU+AFC had caused Guyana to wait five months for the declaration of last year’s elections results, even as the country battled a pandemic. She reminded that the APNU+AFC refers to the democratically elected PPP/C Government as “installed” but noted that it is the people of Guyana who installed the Government by their votes, despite those results being delayed by the APNU+AFC and officials of the Guyana Elections Commission who are now before the courts on election-related charges.
