Dear Editor,

As the election campaign has gained momentum there has been a series of interesting exchanges between the major parties about the economic performance of Guyana over recent decades. On March 28, 2015, the Guyana Chronicle carried this report on a PPP meeting in Lusignan:

“‘THE PPP/C (People’s Progressive Party Civic) Government has transformed this country from a heavy indebted country to a middle income developing country; this is the change what we want for Guyana’, the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, stressed repeatedly last evening.”

Mr Nandlall obviously sees the middle income developing country status as a badge of honour for the PPP. However, this honour may be qualified after careful reflection. According to the Kaieteur News on April 9, 2015:

“Bangladesh has offered Guyana skilled manpower like physicians, engineers and agriculturists to play an important role in utilising its resources.”

Bangladesh aspires to become a middle income developing country by 2021, and according to the World Bank Group – Bangladesh Overview (available online):

“Bangladesh has maintained an impressive track record on growth and development. In the past decade, the economy has grown at nearly 6 percent per year, and human development went hand-in-hand with economic growth. Poverty dropped by nearly a third, coupled with increased life expectancy, literacy, and per capita food intake. More than 15 million Bangladeshis have moved out of poverty since 1992.”

How would Guyana’s performance be measured against that of Bangladesh since 1992? More important, why would Bangladesh, which is not ranked a middle-income developing country, be able to offer skilled manpower that Guyana – a middle income developing country – is apparently unable to train or retain from among its own citizens.

Since Mr Nandlall seems better equipped to speak on caste issues within the PPP, Mr Jagdeo, the Moscow-trained economist, may wish to explain the differences in the quality of economic performance and status that would allow Bangladesh to offer assistance to Guyana which has been under PPP management since 1992.

Yours faithfully,
Cary Fraser