Dear Editor,
Sean Ori seems obsessed with the job situation in Guyana. Yet again he is asking if the “… Government thought about creating apprenticeship programmes as this will not only give people money but will also give them skills?” Sometime before, his question was “How goes the job creation plan?” His claim is that “Since the democratically-elected PPP/C won the 2020 elections, it has embarked on the path of giving cash handouts to citizens.” He notes that “While this brings a welcome relief to some, the vast majority are still looking forward to the 50,000 jobs promised by Irfaan Ali, during his election campaign.” Well, it is incumbent upon me to speak candidly on this matter.
I remind him, therefore, and others too, that in September 2020, it was reiterated that from 2017 to 2019, (under the previous administration) the unemployment rate in Guyana increased from 12.2 percent to 13.4 percent and the new administration, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) had to act to reverse this. The promise was that over the next five years, that is, its first tenure, it will create 50,000 jobs. No one, at any time, made promises that 50,000 jobs will be created ‘just like that.’ Job creation is not willy-nilly.
I remind readers that when the 2021 National Budget was presented, it outlined the foundation for the local economy to be conducive to job creation for Guyanese. As was pointed out in his debate, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall explained that “You can’t have a policy in the Budget call ‘job creation’ and just create jobs in isolation.” What he meant was that “… a government has to prepare the economy, prepare the country to make it conducive for jobs to be created…” At the time, the AG detailed that “We (the government) have specific programmes to target specific communities to attract investments to those communities to create jobs.”
If we fast-forward, then we can trace the ongoing fruition of what was meant then, and what is still unfolding. As we have been noticing, thousands of jobs are currently being created because of the foundation laid by that budget and succeeding ones, and more are set to follow. For example, Guyana will have a number of hotels (by the seawall, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, the Ogle Airport), and the road that is going open the highway between Ogle and Eccles. Currently, with a number of gas-to-shore energy projects in the air, even more jobs will be ‘up for grabs.’ Housing is in escalation and this too translates into job-creation. So, I am befuddled. Sean Ori’s repeated questioning regarding job-creation is an adventure into futility.
Let me iterate firmly, that “The PPP/C presented its first full year but second national budget to the tune of a whopping $383.1 billion, and according to Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, one of its main objectives is to ensure a diversified and resilient productive sector by facilitating large-scale private investment in both traditional and new and emerging sectors, in order to create 50,000 jobs in the next five years.” I add that outside oil and gas, the opportunities for employment are rife in agriculture, tourism and hospitality, manufacturing, and the service sector.
I need not go on, so I will ask readers to follow what Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, recently did. I speak here regarding the launching of government’s part-time jobs initiative in Region Five, which will see some 1,000 persons benefitting in the region and approximately 7,000 across the country. It is not news anymore, as all know that the PPP/C Administration inherited significant job loss because of the poor policies of the previous government.
So, yes, the government not only thought about creating apprenticeship programmes, but a host of other things in terms of livelihood. This is why unemployment is not really a big issue, as more and more people are being ‘sucked into’ working environments in the country.
Yours truly,
H. Singh