Following Budget cut ... APNU heckled at Essequibo Coast public meetings

Written by Rajendra Prabhulall

Monday, 30 April 2012 23:19

Source - Guyana Chronicle

A PARTNERSHIP for National Unity (APNU) has vowed to take the fight, to press the government to give in to its demands from the national budget, to the streets of the capital city, Georgetown and Office of the President.

Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, of the opposition APNU was thoroughly heckled at a public meeting n Westbury, Essequibo Coast on Sunday night.

This is according to Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, who was speaking for the coalition on Sunday night at a public meeting in Westbury, a village bordering People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Dartmouth stronghold on the Essequibo Coast.

Addressing a small crowd in the Westbury Play Park, Roopnarine sought to explain why APNU and the Alliance For Change (AFC) cut the national budget, but his explanations did not go down well with several residents, who asked what did the PNCR do for Guyanese for 28 years in office.

“Now you coming and give explanation, why you cut the budget?” queried another resident.

Some others said they are fed up and did not want to listen to the APNU or AFC excuses.

“We, the people will suffer; not Granger or Ramjattan or Moses,” they heckled.

One man said: “We don’t want to get caught up in the APNU/AFC crab dance. We have to live. Where will I get money to pay higher electricity rates? Will Granger or Ramjattan give me?”

APNU had scheduled another public meeting at Charity yesterday but it was delayed for hours as rain poured and prevented a prompt start.

Many farmers at Charity carried on their normal business and said they were not interested to listen to any speaker or excuses why the national budget was cut.

Several young people at Charity questioned why the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme was stopped.

“We don’t want to hear from them. Why come to Charity? Who wants to listen?” a young lady asked.

Thousands of Essequibians are not pleased with what the Opposition did to the National Budget and are calling on them to rethink their decision.

President Donald Ramotar, in a special address to the nation last Friday night, said while the draconian cuts to the 2012 national budget by the Opposition APNU and the AFC  are ‘heartless’, his faith in dialogue remains undiminished.

“I still hold to the view that dialogue with all Guyanese, including the political parties, is the best way for us to narrow our differences and reach consensus on the way forward,” the Guyanese Head of State said.

“As you know the budget presented this year was for 192.5 billion dollars. It was a budget which was carefully crafted to lift the quality of life of all our people.

Unfortunately, the opposition AFC and APNU used their one-seat majority to cut the budget by some 20.9 billion dollars,” the President lamented.

According to him, these cuts appear to be motivated by a desire of the AFC and APNU to score cheap political points and to undermine progress in our country.

Noting that the implications of the cuts are wide ranging, President Ramotar pointed out that, in the first instance, they could result in many ordinary working people losing their jobs. “This will place new burdens on these persons, many of whom are the bread winners of their families. In this regard, the cuts are heartless,” the President declared.

Secondly, he said the cuts threaten the financing of the many transformative projects which were intended to boost economic growth, create thousands of jobs and ensure increased benefits for all Guyanese.

In this way, he noted that cuts threaten the future of our young people.

“They have even voted against funds coming into the country to finance projects like the flagship Amaila Falls Hydro Power Station which is so critical to reducing the cost of electricity and which would have allowed us to reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels and boost manufacturing including agro-processing and industrialization,” the President said.

Particularly affected, he said, are Guyana’s indigenous and hinterland communities. “The shears of the Opposition have injudiciously severed the Hinterland Electrification Project which would have seen 11,000 solar energy systems being provided to interior residents in 150 communities. The Opposition has also vindictively butchered a project for land titling for Amerindian communities as well as a micro and small enterprise initiative that would have provided small grants and support to small entrepreneurs,” President Ramotar stated.

According to him, “they have scalped the country’s ambitious ICT programme which would have promoted increased investments and created numerous jobs for our people.”