…says Opposition Leader David Granger
LEADER of the Opposition in Parliament Mr. David Granger said last night that the 2014 Budget must be amended if the ordinary Guyanese is to ever enjoy a good life.Speaking at the end of the general debate on the 2014 Budget, Granger said that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) disagreed with certain measures which have been proposed

He said, “When the questions are put, we shall exercise our constitutional right to express agreement or disagreement.”

He called on the government to reduce the Value Added Tax, reduce income tax and generate jobs for school leavers.

He said, “We now have a new dispensation in which the APNU and Alliance For Change (AFC) can combine to save this budget. We must now work towards giving our people a good life.”

During a forty five minute presentation Granger observed that the National Assembly had met and deliberated upon a budget that avoided even one mention of the word ‘poverty’; or ‘unemployment’ or ‘emigration’.

He asked rhetorically: “For which country has this budget been written? Whose budget is this?”

He maintained that no single person or party knows everything.

He said, “Budget 2014 re-emphasises the need to establish, as early as possible, a parliamentary ‘Office of the Budget.’ We need to build a permanent institution. We need to ensure that all sides of this National Assembly could comprehensively propose national measures needed for national development.”

He said that government cannot exclude the majority side from contributing to the preparation of such an important measure as the budget.

He said that APNU knows the micro-economic fundamentals such as stagnant wages, rampant cost-of-living increases and rising child-care costs by which people live every day.
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He said that it is only through the contribution of the majority side that the Executive can be made aware of the real situation on the ground affecting all of the people.

He said that people want a budget that goes to the heart of the everyday issues that confront them – one that does the greatest good for the greatest number.

He maintained that the 2014 Budget, despite its promise – A better Guyana for all Guyanese – is more likely to degenerate into “a bitter Guyana for most Guyanese.”
He said that there is no way the country can move forward with such a budget that continues to disregard the needs of the most important factor in national development – the people!

The National Assembly, he said has an obligation to provide the leadership to provide a better budget.

It has a duty to design plans and strategies to overcome the economic, political and social challenges. It must forestall any folly that might prolong the nightmare of poverty that can lead us down the path of deeper destitution, he said.

He said that the PPPC’s Budget 2014 will be measured by its public impact, adding that a bold budget is needed to move the country forward at a faster pace.

He reiterated: ”This Budget must be amended if the people are to enjoy a good life.”
By Clifford Stanley