The minister said that emphasis will be placed on modernising the traditional sectors, such as sugar, rice and bauxite, while promoting the growth of new and emerging sectors.
“Amongst these initiatives are first of all, initiatives aimed at ensuring...continued transformation in our economy. So for example, we will identify a number of key elements as it relates to transformation of our traditional sectors, in particular sugar,” he explained.
Dr. Singh emphasised that the sugar sector remains an important contributor to the economy, although it has experienced a number of challenges. However, the government recognises that these challenges have to be confronted in order for the industry to play its role in the economy effectively.

 Quit the bull. We are still two from the bottom of the economic ladder in the west and 40 percent of our people are still in the poorhouse.  We do not produce much. We cannot yet produce half of what is required to feed us And of that 40 percent is on remittances. Get it in your noggins, we beg the west for most of what we have. Meanwhile we are mortgaging our future to the Chinese to build things we do no need because the PPP need the kick backs. It is not like we can go to Beijing in the future and ask them to forgo the debt as we did at the Paris club. They will compound interest your ass until the next century

Sound advice to ..

The minister noted that the overall focus of budget 2013 will be continued growth in the Guyanese economy and continued uplift of the standard of living enjoyed by every single Guyanese citizen.

Borrowing to steal – A mountain of debt and little to show for it

Dear Editor,
This is a matter of national importance that Guyanese must turn their attention to, for it will have significant implications for our future generations.

When the PNC left office, the national debt was a staggering US$2.1 billion. At the then exchange rate of G$126, the debt was equivalent to G$263,086M. As of March 31, 2012, the total public debt was US$1.743B or at G$355,580M an exchange rate of G$204 to US$1.

If as Kaieteur News reports, Guyana earned a roughly 75% write-off of the PNC US$2.1 billion debt, then the PPP got write-offs of US$1.575 billion and was left with US $525 million in debt from the PNC. With the debt as of March 2012 at US$1.743 billion, it means the PPP has to March 31, 2012 borrowed US$1.218 billion in 20 years.

Now, the PNC borrowed only around US$1 billion in its 28 years in power. Interest and other penalties accounted for a significant portion of the PNC’s US$2.1 billion debt when it left office, because the PNC was an atrocious and inept financial manager which failed to pay its bills.
Comparing what the PNC did with its US$1 billion borrowed to the PPP’s US$1.218 billion borrowed to date is easy, because both parties focused heavily on spending on major projects and infrastructure.

I know it will cause great consternation to PPP supporters, but the PNC from 1964 to the mid-1970s outclassed the PPP in infrastructural works.
The PNC built much of this country’s infrastructure from the ground up during this period using borrowed money. Much of the nation’s major highways, schools, hospitals, bridges, the MMA, sea defence, etc., were built or substantially upgraded during that period.

The PNC also lost at least US$300 million on the failed Upper Mazaruni hydro project. That is where a lot of the PNC’s debt went. The PPP has borrowed US$1.218 billion in 20 years and what does it have to show for it? It has not built any major new infrastructure entirely, except the Skeldon sugar factory where it spent US$181 million and the stadium. The Berbice Bridge was privately built.

How does a government that built little of infrastructural significance from the start and that has spent its time fixing and patching up infrastructure built by others, borrow US$1 billion in 20 years, when that same government collected the most revenues, VAT and taxes ever collected in Guyana’s history and has benefited from a much improved economy than under the PNC? Patching and fixing is cheaper than building from the start.
Why does a government in this position have to take on so much debt and have nothing to show for it? Because it is to steal…Or in Guyanese parlance, “to thief.”

The PNC did a lot of stealing, but it cannot compare to the scale of the PPP’s larceny. The stealing under the PNC was mostly from the revenues it generated. Most of the PNC’s spending of its debt during its first decade in office was actually money fairly well spent. By contrast, the stealing under the PPP has come heavily from both sources.
The PPP already collects a lot of money from the Guyanese people. Tax revenue alone was US$600 million in 2011 and it keeps growing. That is not even counting the earnings from exports. Why does this government need to borrow so heavily when proper fiscal management using internal resources could reduce the need to borrow so heavily?

Well, foreign loans offer the greatest avenues to steal.
The money is directly controlled by the cabal. The entire process is secretive. To date, there has not been complete public disclosure on many of the deals secretly signed by the PPP.

Money is easily siphoned off by creating false bureaucracies, all manner of side projects and dummy entities. Foreign loans are often not scrutinized by the Auditor General and other internal auditing bodies.
Loans are controlled directly by the political directorate. Kickbacks are easier to acquire under these loans. Borrowing heavily is also a symptom of failure.

The PPP is creating deficits in the economy with cronyism, nepotism and party paramountcy and it is trying to fill those holes by borrowing rather than by doing the right thing and practicing fiscal accountability with lean and clean government. The PPP is leading us down the road to economic destitution.

M. Maxwell

Good news for Guyana = Bad news for the AFC and the TALKERS and LOSERS who support that party.

Rev

 They are trying to cover their asses here but the only do they do is leech from the state. How again did this lot of pisspoor pricks became the resident patricians on their salaries again? Yes they do...steal

Every year, the National Budget is pro working class, this year it is expected to be even more pro working class, the largest budgetary allocations are to the social sectors, that is of most benefit to all Guyanese especially those of  the working class

20 years in office and this "working class party" has not formalized a minimum wage for workers or index yearly raises to meet increases in the cost of living. It is the working class Party that contractually negotiated away the option for the poor to get a job in the construction industry if it is Chinese owned. 

The opponents of the state will always tries to paint a dismal picture of the Guyanese economy, which is far from the truth, "Stormborn" and the Cabal he/she represents fights the truth on a daily basis

Stormborn:

How many times must I tell you that the PPP politicians in the executive branch are HARVESTERS OF MILK AND HONEY---they are not crooks and thieves--just harvesters.lol

Any by the way stormy, the psychopaths in the AFC and APNU are drooling to get a taste of the MILK & HONEY.

Anyway Storm---thanks to great leadership by the PPP---the standard of living of all Guyanese have risen over the years.

And as poster conscience pointed out---the standard of living in Guyana will continue to rise.

GOD BLESS THE PPP.

Rev

Most Guyanese would not have their meal without support from a family member overseas.  Officially the unemployment rate is 11 percent. Note that number it is the one you harped on to predict Obama's sure loss. Note also the real unemployment number is in the 20's. With 40 percent of the people in deep poverty the nation being unable to produce even one half of what it needs, we are a beggar bowl economy. I do not know how my brother or aunt could have a house if we did not build it. Only a small percentage is enjoying the larges of the state and that is only members of PPPinc.

Storm:

When your beloved PNC ruled Guyana you had a thriving black market economy---you also had the barrel economy.

Did you ever send back a barrel to your relatives in Guyana ?

I recall shipping jumbo barrels via Laparkan to family in the 1980s---LaParkan made tens of millions shipping barrels to Guyana.

RE: REMITTANCES

Listen Storm--back in 2006 acording to IMF data Guyanese remitted $476 million dollars to Guyana---that figure is probably up to 500 million today---Guyanese are a very generous people---they help out those left behind.

RE: UNEMPLOYMENT IN GUYANA

Well if 20% of the people in the richest country on the planet are either unemployed or underemployed---that 11% unemployment number for Guyana you stated looks good.

BOTTOM LINE:

Guyana in the next decade will fluorish---and PPP detractors like you will continue to be mentally tortured.

Rev

The cheque has been in the mail for 20 years. 

As those before me fought the PNC; I will do my duty and fight to remove these parasites. They far exceed the PNC in their corruption, murderous inclinations not to mention disrespect for our national assets. It may not be tomorrow but in the fullness of my years I will watch the sun set on these crooks.

"It may not be tomorrow but in the fullness of my years I will watch the sun set on these crooks."

...and so will I

I love it when he says that the PPP will create jobs. I guess he meant for CHINESE!!!!!

I hear the jobs gonnas come when the hotel full up wit all kindsa visitors from another planet.

Storm:

The Rev believes in the proverb, "the longest rope has an end."

Yes! The PPP reign of harvesting and feasting on the MILK  and HONEY in the executive branch will come to an end one day---the PNC/apnu/afc, whoever, will then get a chance to feast on the MILK & HONEY when they take over.

But before that day arrives, Guyana will fluorish and prosper, socially(health, education), infrastructurally(roads, bridges, drainage, irrigation, water, sanitation), and economically(better standard of living for all).

In the meantime Stormy, may envy and jealousy keep eating away at your soul.

Rev

Under what ethical system does one become envious of crooks? One is repulsed by their audacity, poverty of morals, and general toxicity as humans. One does not envy that. One wants the medicine to cure it. No one like a disease.

The Guyanese Populace are anxiously awaiting the presentation of the 2013 National Budget, it promises to be even more  pro-working class

Can you tell us how it will be more pro working class.

Start by telling us why the PPP thinks that Guyanese are too lazy to work in building a hotel that they are paying to construct.

Each year, the largest budgetary allocations are to the social sectors, that is of benefit to all Guyanese, especially those of the working class

This is a big lie!  of the $75 billion in the capital budget, more than $50 billion is on projects for the BEES.

These BEES can really lie!

They look you in the face and hire an army of Chinese and then tell the people that they got nuff wuk for Guyanese.

Another PPP LIE!

Investment in People
a. Education.
2011
•    Government expended a sum of $24 billion over the last year in the sector.
•    $1 billion was spent on the Cyril Potter College.
•    $47 million spent on the establishment of the Educational Television Broadcasting Service.
•    $768 million was spent on the operational costs of the 2 campuses of University of Guyana and $450 million on student loans.

Excerpts from the 2012 Budget
•    Over $1 billion was spent on the National School Feeding programme which benefited more than 63,000 students.
•    $266 million was spent on ensuring each child had a uniform for school.
•    $1.8 billion was spent on technical and vocational training.
•    $2.8 billion was also expended towards the maintenance, rehabilitation, extension and construction of educational facilities throughout Guyana
2012
•    $26.5 billion has been allocated towards the education sector.
•    $1 billion allocated for the National School Feeding programme
•    $1.2 billion has been budgeted for teacher training
•    3,500 teachers trained by end 2012
•    University of Guyana has been allocated $900 million towards the operations and maintenance of the Turkeyen and Tain campuses.
•    $80 million has been for curriculum reform for the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Guyana.
•    $450 million has been provided for student loans.
•    $3.3 billion has been allocated for the continued maintenance, rehabilitation, extension and construction of educational facilities countrywide.

b. Health
2011
•    Government expended $14.5 billion in 2011 towards the implementation of the National Health Sector Strategy 2008-2012.
•    $998 million was expended for the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of health care facilities including the new 285 bed facility at GPHC.
•    Over $300 million was expended on training of medical and paramedical professionals.
•    15,147 infants benefited from over 1.3 million sachets of sprinkles, while 10,154 pregnant mothers received 913,860 sachets of sprinkles.

2012
•    $16.9 billion budgeted for the continued modernisation of the sector.
•    $672 million budgeted for construction of a 100 bed state-of-the-art specialty hospital
•    $948 million has been budgeted for the construction and maintenance of health sector buildings and infrastructure nationwide
•    $387 million budgeted for the training and improvement of public health personnel.
•    $240 million budgeted for continued distribution of antenatal and infant sprinkles.

c. Housing
2011
•    Over $3.3 billion was expended in the housing sector
•    25 core houses were completed and another 59 commenced.
•    Allocated 8,981 house lots as well as the distributed 7,325 land titles
•    In excess of 1,000 persons accessed low interest financing valued at over $5.6 billion.
•    One –Stop-Shop outreaches benefited over 36,000 persons.
2012
•    $3.6 billion is allocated to the housing sector
•    Allocation of 6,500 house lots and the processing and distribution of 4,000 land titles.
•    200 core houses will be constructed

d. Water
2011
•    $1.8 billion was expended in the water sector
•    Construction and upgrading of distribution and transmission mains to benefit of over 90,000 persons.
•    10 km of transmission mains were rehabilitated

2012
•    $2 billion has been allocated to the water sector to  improved the quality of water supply
•    $900 million is budgeted for the installation of approximately 20 km of transmission and distribution systems.
•    $400 million is allocated for the construction of 2 new water treatment plants at Wisroc and Amelia’s Ward, to the benefit of approximately 30,000 residents
•    $150 million budgeted for the installation of 10 photovoltaic systems, upgrade 5 existing water supply systems, to the benefit of over 11,000 persons in Hinterland Communities.

(e) Sanitation
2011
•    $588 million spent on the operation of the Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill.
2012
•    $503 million budgeted to commence rehab of 9 sewer-pumping stations,
•    $678 million is budgeted to continue the construction of the waste –receiving cell at the Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill

(f) Vulnerable groups and Other Targeted Interventions
i. Children
2011
•    The Child Care and Development Services Act 2011 and the Custody, Access, Guardianship and Maintenance Act 2011 were passed
•    489 children have been removed from abusive situations and placed in safe homes
•    The national foster care programme placed 55 children in foster homes
•    the Sophia Care Centre was commissioned in 2011, with capacity to accommodate 100 children

2012
•    Mahaica home to provide care for our young girls who have been victims of abuse will be upgraded.
•    Family court is expected to commence its sittings in 2012.

ii. Youth
2011
•    2,900 out of school youths were trained under the National Training Project for Youth Empowerment (NTPYE) programme, Youth Entrepreneurial Skills Training (YEST) Programme and the Board of Industrial Training.
•    $58 million was spent  on infrastructural works at the Smythfield Drop-In Centre
•    the National Aquatic Centre at Liliendaal was opened
2012
•    2,850 young people targeted to be trained and $66 million allocated to equip and rehabilitate our training centres.
•    $675 million has been earmarked for the continuation of the athletic track at Leonora, completion of the Bartica Community Centre, upgrading of the National Gymnasium, Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, National Stadium and Colgrain Pool
•    $160 million has been allocated for the upgrading of sports grounds countrywide
•    A 25-metre warm-up pool would be constructed at the National Aquatic Centre, Liliendaal.

iii. Single Parents
2011
•    Under the WOW programme, over 1,000 single mothers accessed loans for investment in a small business
•    The Single Parent programme under BIT trained 423 parents in cosmetology, computer repairs and electrical installation
•    Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute (GWLI) empowered over 230 women through several capacity building programmes offered at the institute, including life skills and for the first time, information technology
2012
•    training will be provided to 2,000 women in areas such as small business management, basic accounting and self improvement

iv. Elderly
2011
•    Infrastructural works continued at the Palms Geriatric Institution
•    Financial support in the form of monthly old age pension benefited over 42,000 of our pensioners
2012
•    With effect from May 1, 2012 old age pension is $8,100 monthly, a 8 percent increase over 2011, and more than double the rate of $3,500 paid in 2006

v. Homeless
•    The Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration at Onverwagt, is expected to benefit over 300 persons.
•    Night Shelter continues to provide accommodation, meals and medical assistance to more than 200 persons on a daily basis

vi. Indigenous Communities
2011
•    Under the Amerindian Development Fund (ADF), $87 million was provided for projects and programmes arising from community development plans.
•    Under the Secure Livelihood Programme, $22 million was expended on monitoring and follow up training.
•    The Hinterland Scholarship programme awarded 112 scholarships.

2012
•    Under the ADF, $165 million is budgeted for community programmes, issuance of land titles to 13 villages and the Secure Livelihood Programme.
•    Under the GRIF, funding will be provided to support the socioeconomic development of Amerindian communities through the implementation of their community development plans.

vii. Other Vulnerable Communities
2011
•    9,000 persons received monthly support through the public assistance programme
2011
•    With effect from May 1, 2012, Public Assistance is $5,900 monthly, a 7 percent increase over 2011 and more than double the rate of $2,350 paid in 2006

where is the evidence that these project are functional today?

all of it bruking up, no sustainability.

They fix a road today and 3 months down the line it bruk up.

All the actions of the harem of PPP tiefs.

nasty tiefing PPP got the gaul to come here and tell we that With effect from May 1, 2012, Public Assistance is $5,900 monthly,

Compared this to Bharat package of $3,000,000 a month.

Poor man get $5,900 a month vs Bharat $3,000,000 a month.

Stewps.

This bandits got no shame!

To date the 10th Parliament is the least successful in the history of Guyana, the joint opposition, seems to be on a quest to frustrate all the govt projects, that is of benefit to all Guyanese....the opposition's main aim it seems is to attract the limelight, by any means necessary

Is like you doan read an understan is what goin on you silly @#$%^

Most of us here do not believe diddly squat in all you say here, you are simply a fraud, go tek a nap and have a good ole fashion councie ..yeah do dat, go ahead an get rid of those asinine thoughts of yours.