Govt. vows to improve living standards despite budget cuts – Nandlall

April 20, 2013, By KNews, Filed Under News, Source

Despite budgetary cuts to the national budget imposed by the parliamentary opposition, Government has assured that it will continue to work to improve the living standards of people countrywide.

This was the assertion of Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, who during a press conference at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown, stated that the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) will seek to provide subsidies for water and electricity rates for pensioners. Government, he said, will also cater to the provision of school uniforms and school feeding programmes.

Nandlall made these disclosures even as he commented on moves by the joint opposition to slash from the budget allocations to various vital sectors thereby denying Guyanese from all walks of life certain facilities and services that human beings enjoy all over, as part of their basic human rights.

“The PPP/C will never abandon our people. While A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) have betrayed our people, the PPP/C Members of Parliament (MPs) will stand with our people.”

The opposition, according to Nandlall, was successful in their quest to slash the sum of $5.2 billion from the budget that was proposed for the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL).

Government, he disclosed, had allocated $10.2B to GPL in order to prevent an increase in electricity rates, even as he emphasized that the power company provides electricity to Guyanese households at approximately $60. kw hour even though real cost is about $80 kw hour.

“In addition to providing support to GPL to prevent a rise in electricity rates, the PPP/C Government support of $10.255B to GPL was intended to help GPL to expand its distribution and transmission system by the construction of five new sub-stations and expansion of two existing sub stations.”

The subsidy was intended to further reduce loss reduction and enhance energy conservation, added Nandlall.

“The merciless cut of $5.225B from GPL’s budget means that the MPs from AFC and APNU are deliberately trying to prevent improvement of electricity supply to the people of Guyana and to cause a rise in electricity rates to the people of Guyana.”

While $10.22B seems to be high, it comes out to be an annual subsidy of about $13,000 per capita, said Nandlall.

“This means that the uncaring MPs of APNU and the AFC have disgustingly cut the PPP/C subsidy of $13,000 per person to less than $6,000 per person.” He highlighted too that the 2013 budget has a subsidy of $2.9B for electricity to the communities of Kwakwani and Linden.

This allocation would in fact work out to be about $72,000 per person, he said.

“Last year the Government had proposed that the people of Linden and Kwakwani pay a part of this cost, but the MPs of APNU and AFC rejected this. The result was a violent reaction that led to death and destruction,” recalled Nandlall yesterday.

“It will be interesting to know whether APNU and AFC think that the citizens of Regions Two, Three, Four, Five and Six should not benefit like the people of Linden and Kwakwani. The PPP/C rejects the unequal treatment of our people in Guyana by the APNU and AFC,” he insisted.

NCN and GINA

Turning his attention to the cuts of the allocations to the National Communication Network (NCN) and the Government Information Agency (GINA) to $1 each, Nandlall said that more than 250 workers and their families would be on the bread line as a result.

“Once again, the joint Opposition are saying to the Guyanese people that they are not entitled to information in respect of what the Government is doing for them; that they are not entitled to view important sports programmes such as cricket, football, boxing etc. including the local events which are given prominence by NCN.”

By cutting budgetary allocations to these news agencies, the Attorney General said, the Opposition is once again displaying its inherent dictatorial and anti-democratic tendencies by assaulting freedom of the press and the constitutional right and freedom of the Guyanese people to receive information.

The People’s National Congress (PNC), according to him, had done precisely the same thing “during their dictatorial reign when they were in government.  They murdered and jailed journalists.  They banned importation of news print. They monopolised the press.  They tolerated no dissenting views.

“Today, with the limited power they enjoy in the Opposition, they continue their attack on the press.  They remain critical of the Government for liberating the airwaves in relation to radio licences,” added a very vocal Nandlall yesterday.

He noted that “paradoxically and illogically, they continue to demand airtime on NCN and press coverage from GINA but yet they cut the Budget of these agencies to $1.   In other words, they have completely shut down these entities yet they want coverage from them.  It simply does not make sense.”

Nandlall said that Government is of the view that even as the consideration of the estimates continues the cutting and slashing of the budget is likely to continue.