IT is now a foregone conclusion that the Kaieteur News nor the Stabroek News will publish any of my letters since I do not tow their lines. It is surprising that these papers do not see the hidden agenda of the AFC and APNU. But I am positive they do, but their hate for the PPP/C is paramount to the nation’s interest.2014 Budget
The 2014 Budget is here and once again the AFC and APNU are ‘scissors happy.’ The AFC’s leader was so impatient that he and his cohorts leisurely strolled out of Parliament once again displaying utter disregard for their mandate to pursue the people’s business. It was the AFC’s ‘foreplay.’ These people are so irresponsible and yet they do not feel that they are wasting taxpayers’ dollars!
The theme of the 2014 Budget ‘A Better Guyana for ALL Guyanese’ is an apt one. It is amazing that when countries such as USA, Canada, Japan and the UK are having economic growth of less that 2%, our country is having a GDP of over 5% and this is real economic growth! For a period of over eight years this country has been achieving steady and sustainable progress in the standard of living enjoyed by the Guyanese people. The question people must ask is: What have been the contributions of the AFC and APNU towards this gigantic achievement? Absolutely nothing! Instead, they have doggedly attempted to thwart and impede such progress. Can you imagine if the Opposition has co-operated with the PPP/C government what our achievement would have been? Supporters of APNU and AFC I call upon you, please do some genuine research and stop reading the trash and garbage peddled by Stabroek News, Kaieteur News and Frederick Kissoon! The glass is not half empty!
This budget has superseded anyone’s expectations and right thinking individuals. That is, it has addressed the plight of the poor and vulnerable of this nation: increase in old age pension, GPL subsidy to pensioners, $10,000 allowance for each child going to school, and increase in the income tax threshold. This 220 billion dollars budget has indeed targeted the needs of this country. The President of Guyana, His Excellency Donald Ramoutar and his team have done more for this country than anyone before, since no other Government had ever faced such adversities and hardships. No one faced such an unrelenting, venomous and unpatriotic combined Opposition as the AFC/APNU. This man has defied the labours of Hercules. Keep up the fight victory is in sight! The APNU and AFC will understand soon that the ‘voice of the people is the voice of God’. The people of this country will not revert to ‘massa days’. The dark era of 28 years is gone forever!
GPL, Linden and Kwakwani
The government has once again come to the assistance of GPL and the people of Linden/Kwakwani and this should be lauded. It is not a waste of taxpayers’ monies when such monies are used to assist a depress area and an ailing service provider. It must be recalled that GPL, formerly GEC, was in an utterly state of disrepair under the PNC Government: monies were stolen, mismanaged and ill-spent. Capital replacement was very minimal and in some cases junks were purchased. The AFC or APNU cannot deny this, but they feel that such a subsidy will put the PPP/C Government in a good light in the eyes of the people. If the subsidy is not given to GPL electricity rates will go up, blackouts will be more frequent, the people will be devastated and who will get the blame, of course the PPP/C government! Once again their agenda to destabilise the government will be successful.
GUYSUCO and SUGAR
Some people feel that GUYSUCO is doing nothing towards the economic growth of this country and they are actually telling people that the sugar industry is dead and buried and could never ever be able to come to life again. In fact, on March 12, 2014, the Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan told Inews in an interview that ‘the party supports APNU in its call for a shift from decades of sugar production into a direction of ethanol production and aquaculture.’ It does not take an MBA graduate to figure out what Ramjattan was saying- semantics or not his meaning was clear. APNU does not support sugar production therefore AFC does not!
Then in the next scene, Moses Nagamoottoo, realising that AFC supporters are also sugar workers tried to repair the damage. He said that the AFC called for a ‘transformation’ of the industry ‘rather than COMPLETE closure.’ His attempt at damage control cannot fool anyone. These leaders will never be able to come clear on certain issues. But this man knows more about ‘banga mary’ than sugar, so he can be excused! Please Moses, PPP/C Government through the 2014 budget has everything in place for the revitalisation of the sugar industry and it is not through rearing ‘tilapia’!
I want these gentlemen to understand that the sugar industry in 2013 contributed 8.3% of our total exports or $ 112.2 million US dollars. Sugar contributed 3.9% to our country’s gross domestic product. The sugar industry is ‘ailing’ but is still making a meaningful contribution to our economy. In addition, the industry gives a livelihood to 18,000 workers and overall nearly 120,000 people of this country benefited directly or indirectly! Moreover, GUYSUCO supplies nearly 50% of the electricity demand in Berbice. Do you think ‘tilapia’ can make all these contributions? Is it wise to leave the known and blunder into the unknown? You never hear these facts on the ‘ALLIANCE CART ON THE MOVE’ on DTV 8 in Berbice.
The government transferred 195 million US dollars to GUYSUCO from 2005 to 2013 but 145.9 million US dollars out of this came from the European Union! So it is not the Government giving all the assistance to GUYSUCO. The PNC molested and raped GUYSUCO through the sugar levy so it’s payback time.
The Government has already embarked on strategies at all levels and the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Dr Leslie Ramsammy has the ability and competence to make GUYSUCO the most viable industry in this country. GUYSUCO, is one of the entities that has been maliciously starved of capital investment during the PNC era. It was deliberately ‘milked dry’ through the sugar levy to support many of the PNC Government failed ‘investments’ so the industry will need the patience and perseverance of the people of this country to allow it to bounce back. The problems faced by GUYSUCO are more operational in nature and I am positive that Mr Ramsammy and GUYSUCO’s Chairman and Board will resolve these problems and transform the entity into an economically viable one! The 2014 Budget has already laid out various strategies to handle these problems and they are workable.
Conclusion
If the AFC and APNU have an iota of interest in this nation’s development they will support the 2014 Budget. Stop prioritising your self-interest! The 2014 Budget is not a PPP/C budget, it is the people’s budget. It provides for the people of this country. Stop wasting taxpayers’ monies in Parliament and make yourselves useful.
I appeal to the Members of Parliament of both AFC and APNU to use their conscience to support and promote economic and social development of our country. One of you can make a difference so have the courage to think out of the box!
Lastly, remember the Chief Justice ruling: You do not have the legal right to cut the budget! The Constitution says that! The PNC knows that, they framed it in 1980 to ensure that the Opposition cannot cut the budget!
HASEEF YUSUF
AFC Councillor/Region 6

Extracted from Guyanachronicle