Nagamootoo opposes Budget relief measures

AFC Member of Parliament Moses Nagamootoo this evening rubbished the mortgage interest relief outlined in the budget for first-time home owners who could claim income tax relief on interest paid on mortgage up to $30 million.

“The allowance would be paltry, but they would nonetheless be grateful for small mercies,” Nagamootoo said.

A few homeowners have since expressed outrage over the AFC’s stated position.  A new homeowner in the Parfaite Harmonie Housing scheme, Region Three said that he was happy last week when he read about the mortgage relief measure, and now that the AFC is opposing this, he is outraged.

Another homeowner of Diamond was very peeved over the party’s stand. “Why oppose something that is good and beneficial for us young people who are now seeing our way?” he questioned.

Meanwhile during his presentation, MP Nagamootoo cited figures regarding tax reforms, wages relief, and national debt relief among other figures and numbers that purported to represent total liabilities of public corporations. He fudged on the numbers and failed to indicate his source of the figures quoted.

He again focused on the reduction of Value Added Tax, while at the same time calling for wages increase for public servants and sugar workers and a reduction of the Berbice River Bridge toll; things that will only be possible is the VAT remains in place.

The MP also opposed the subsidies to the Guyana Power and Light and the Guyana Sugar Corporation, and the $300M allocation to the Demerara Harbour Bridge.

Ironically, the AFC MP also called for the three political parties to work together for the good of the country.

“We need cooperation and we can do so over this budget. This is the time for real tri-partite engagement. Nothing else will do,” Nagamootoo stated.

Nagamootoo opposes Gov’t subsidy to GPL and Guysuco - parrots Greenidge ‘black hole’ line

Initiatives for the betterment of the population, which have found favour with the intended beneficiaries, have not gone down well with the political opposition as they continue to go against them.

This evening in the National Assembly, Alliance for Change Member Moses Nagamootoo shunned the relief measures set out in the National Budget to support the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) to subsidise electricity, repeating A Partnership for Unity’s (APNU’s) Carl Greenidge’s line that the money was being thrown into a black hole.

The AFC member said, “This state has to guarantee loans to GPL amounting to $23B for equipment and infrastructure works. This is throwing water on duck’s back. I repeat what my learned friend has said on this side, a black hole.”

Nagamootoo also sought to distort Government’s explanation of the merit of the provision in the National Assembly, and threatened that, “This year; the bail-out will be a dark tunnel.”

The combined Opposition had used their one-seat majority last year to cut the 2012 allocation to the power-company. In the face of rising operational costs, particularly fuel prices, increasing customer base coupled with huge technical and commercial losses, the company needs the Government’s support to provide low-priced electricity to its thousands of customers.

GPL faces the reality that the last time that it increased electricity rates was 2007, when fuel prices were a mere fraction of what they are today.  Since then the fuel prices have increased many-fold and GPL has had to continue to meet its operating requirements, including the purchase of fuel for the generation of power for the national grid without the benefit of a tariff increase.

Meanwhile Nagamootoo also opposed the provision to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco), as he called the sugar company ‘another favourite duck’ of the Government.

The sugar company has been plagued with issues of productivity, however, Government, recognising the importance of sustaining this vital industry which provides employment for about 18,000 people and indirectly benefit another 120,000 has been injecting financial resources to assist the sugar-company in regaining it viability.

Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh during a recent interview had explained that this is a short-term investment aimed at securing the long-term viability of the sugar industry. This intervention is in the short-term interest of the industry and the workers who are dependent on it, and also support the long- term viability of the industry and its long-term contribution to the Guyanese economy.

Budget 2013 proposes that Government transfer $5.8B to GPL to support its effort in meeting its cash flow requirements and another $5.4B to assist in executing key projects. An amount of $1B is to be transferred to Guysuco.

Demerara Harbour Bridge

This year, $300M has been allocated to the Demerara Harbour Bridge for the rehabilitation of pontoons, buoys, sheaves and shackles, anchor chains and cluster piles to improve the structural integrity of the 35-year old structure.

Nagamootoo also opposed the subsidy for the DHB, urging that the corporation  should make a profit, implying that there should be increased tariffs.

gail picking up firerage fuh a man who took no offense . . . huh?

this PPP "Chief Whip" . . . what an ass

"AFC Member of Parliament Moses Nagamootoo this evening rubbished the mortgage interest relief outlined in the budget for first-time home owners who could claim income tax relief on interest paid on mortgage up to $30 million.

“The allowance would be paltry, but they would nonetheless be grateful for small mercies,” Nagamootoo said."

"A few homeowners have since expressed outrage over the AFC’s stated position.  A new homeowner in the Parfaite Harmonie Housing scheme, Region Three said that he was happy last week when he read about the mortgage relief measure, and now that the AFC is opposing this, he is outraged."

This homeowner has to be a PPP clown. Nagamatoo/the AFC is not opposing the tax relief granted to homeowners but asking for a larger tax relief.

this is one more of the ppp ass trying to mislead people on this site they cannot fool the guyanese in guyana anymore so they posting shit on this site

This man Nagamootoo should be left to choke on his Vomit. He is a bloody DISGRACE to Guyana.

and i think you nehru was a pandit or is all the ppp pandits bandits

Who the hell appointed the PPP spokes person for the guyanese people? "

 

"Initiatives for the betterment of the population, which have found favour with the intended beneficiaries, have not gone down well with the political opposition as they continue to go against them."

 

Moses Nagamootoo will be judged by his principles.

1) He lied about voting for the president pension plan in parliament.

2) He said he is a mantle of Cheddi Jagan and he join with APNU to crew the sugar workers.

3) He said will he would be a neemakaram to leave the PPP and join the AFC.

4) He disrespected the speaker of the house by speaking beyond his time and ignore warning repeatedly.

5) He never paid tribute to the man he called his hero.

6) He get baptised into the black race.

A man's word is his honor!

one more racist showing their true color this is not about guyana and the welfare of guyanese but its all about race collie only 

He dont participate in National Phagwa celebrations. NOTE # 3 on Tape.

Moses consider himself a darker shade of black than Granger. Granger played along with the Indians, but not Moses who parted the sea for his disciples to cross. 

like ganga persaud a wan turn coat neemakaran too? yuh bin seh moses a greatest ting before? wah happen traita neemakaram daag????

The Guyanese population which will again elect them to lead the Government.

da 45%?

The Guyanese Populace have a clear picture of the sinister motives of the joint opposition, in the event of any snap elections, the PPP/C will be elected by the masses with a majority

Sheer shit as usual, get a real job councie, you are wasting time posting your daily dose of lies.

Nagamootoo had spoken in excess of his allocated time granted by the Speaker to wrap up his speech, but refused to draw his presentation to a close when he was told to do so.

.......................................................................................................

Whey you cannot finish your speech in your allotted time, it shows ill-preparedness, lack of knowledge of subject matter, and is a bad reflection on you.  If he cannot give a simple speech in parliament he cannot move on to bigger things i.e. presidential material.

The joint opposition goons seems to be attempting to sell their souls, in a failing bid to defend the sinister motives of the  joint opposition directly aimed at hurting the working class...

You are the worst spokesperson to speak on behalf of any lame duck party. Who do you represent, cain? If the AFC allowed you to do as you do daily, it means they don't know any better. 

I represent cain, Councie represents the corrupt PPP party and you represent losers.

So, screw you.

Don't sell your soul "cain" let your conscience be your guide, I know its your gut feeling, that the joint opposition should work along with the Government towards the further development of the country.....the joint opposition has little to nothing to be critical about the 2013 budget, they knew its indeed a pro-working class Budget, that needs the support by all

Pandit....like you've tried the "choke on your own vomit" routine.....let's hear your experiences......

Racism Exhibit "A"

You make my hair hurt.........

DG......I see senility has advanced.

Any more Pakistan's PPP headline? Or "everybody loves" Raymond?

The mysteries of the mind..........

Increased allocation for controversial agencies an insult to National Assembly – Nagamootoo

Opposition Member of Parliament Moses Nagamootoo has accused the People’s Progressive Party Civic government of insulting the National Assembly by increasing allocations to a number of agencies that fell under the axe last year.
In a scathing attack on the minority administration during this year’s budget debate, Nagamootoo said that the 2013 budget was tailored to satisfy the “insatiable appetite of the parasitic and bureaucratic, class.”

Member of Parliament Moses Nagamootoo

“In defiance of this National Assembly, it has revised upwards and restored the cuts made for contracted employees, many of whom are the super-salaried, million and multi-million-dollar cats on sinecure employment. Last year, they got an additional $100 million. This year, government has upped the lottery for contracted employees to $7.8 billion. The number of PPP activists on Office of the President payroll has increased.”
He stated that “the defiance is compounded with insult, as cuts for the PPP propaganda machines – the Government Information Agency (GINA) and the National Communications Network (NCN) – have not only been restored, but increased!”
Last year the opposition with its one seat majority created a legal crisis when it slashed huge chunks from the national budget which was air marked to fund a number of government agencies that they felt were unfavourable to the opposition.
“A gauntlet of arrogance and defiance has been thrown into these hallowed halls of the National Assembly,” Nagamootoo declared.
“This type of reckless use of our people’s money has characterized all post-Jagan PPP governments. They have spent money as if it were cheap as “bussie” (rice husk),” he added.
According to Nagamootoo, in the past 13 years, the PPP Government proposed budget allocations amounting to $1,588,000,000,000. (Over one and a half trillion dollars).
“Assuming we have a dollar bill measuring 6 inches, and given that the circumference of our Earth is 1.6 billion inches (1,577,727,360 inches), the budget sums would dollar-on-dollar, wrap the circumference of the earth some 6,000 times (6,039 times),” he said.
“What have we to show for this colossal amount? Today, the PPP comes here and boasts that we are fixing old roads and building new ones; we are breaking old bridges and making new ones; we are scrapping the new airport and building a newer one; we are fixing our broken down sugar industry; we are fixing the failed electricity system. This PPP is a ‘we bruk am; we fix am’ government.”
Nagamootoo said that there is no doubt that Guyana’s growth rate has been positive over the past few years, averaging above four percent annually.
However this growth, he said, has not been miniscule to budgetary allocations over the years.
The former PPP/C member of parliament explained that in the past six years (2007 thru 2012), total budgetary allocations were $825B as compared with $471B in the previous six-year  period (2001-2006).
“These allocations increased by $373 billion or by 126%. The least that could be expected was a reasonable return for the people’s monies and a 4% growth could, dollar for dollar, be a very modest, if not disappointing, return,” Nagamootoo said.
He said that this year, the government is asking for $208.8B, $85 billion of which would be for new projects, without addressing concerns of transparency and accountability.
He assured that his party, the Alliance For Change, is not against projects, but it is demanding that there be feasibility studies, to ascertain if these projects are the best alternative use for the country’s money.
“We have to ask the hard questions: Do we need a new airport costing $30 billion when only 12 years ago, we modernized the existing airport at a cost of $6 billion? Should our government not try to get reliable and affordable airline services before pouring billions into a new airport? With Delta going soon, air transport would be a nightmare. Price gouging has started. Even with a new airport, not having a viable aviation plan, Timehri will continue to be an airline cemetery – Universal, Travelspan, Red Jet, EZjet, and soon, Delta.”
According to Nagamootoo, it is evident that the post-Jagan PPP governments lack vision, proper planning, and have abandoned all claims to a really sustainable development strategy.
This government, he said, has plans that are eclectic, that shift and change, to suit prevailing opportunistic needs for enrichment of a few.
He said that while the government wants support for its spending spree it has failed to deal effectively with corruption.
For instance, he noted that the government has not addressed the vexed issues of putting surpluses from NICIL, Lotto & Wildlife Funds, and moneys from dead bank accounts, into the revenue stream.
He called for appointment of a Chairman of the Integrity Commission, and for the Secretariat to be fully staffed and equipped to conduct investigation into the assets of all office holders, and slammed a call by a government MP for the establishment of a code of conduct for ministers.
“Let us make public these assets. A code not enforceable in law cannot work! It’s a recipe for Cover Up!”
“We need to implement the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Terrorism Act, and to give teeth to the toothless poodle-style Intelligence Unit. Not a soul has been investigated, much less prosecuted, for money-laundering, and Guyana is wrongly being seen as a haven for money-launderers, drugs trafficking, etc.,” Nagamootoo stated emphatically.

Father,    Mother   & Baby

All dem donkey is de same,

Just a Ride & Some Donkey

Nothing More..........

Listen to what Raphel Trotman had to say.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyQsJX37alc

Fragments from memory - My last lap with Cheddi Jagan

By Moses V. Nagamootoo

ON FRIDAY, February 14, 1997 (Valentine's Day), Cheddi Jagan suffered a  fatal heart attack.

He battled heroically in hospital for twenty-one days, but succumbed on March 6.

The late Cheddi Jagan gave over fifty years of his glorious life to his country and people.

At 79, he had reached the pinnacle of service. He died at his post as the Republic's first democratically-elected President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

He had earned the stature of a Mahatma and, indisputably, the Father of the Nation. Many assessments have already been made of his life and more would be made. But without accounts from those who shared the experiences of his life and struggles, much could remain unsaid, and lost.

Much would be said about his politics and ideology.

But the Cheddi Jagan I knew during the three decades I worked alongside him was essentially a patriot wrapped up in a set of attitudes. Those for me better explained his personality, his world outlook and his convictions.

He was, as he himself had admitted, a workaholic. During his unenviable stint as Opposition Leader (1964-92), when he was not attending a party or public meeting, he devoted time to reading, researching and writing. He was a patient listener who constantly learned from the views of others.

Because of those multiple tasks, which he executed continuously and almost simultaneously, he was forced to convert his small office at Freedom House (the People's Progressive Party headquarters) into a study, a guest lounge as well as a rest house. He would enjoy an hour's after-lunch siesta in his Amerindian hammock inside that office.

I cannot say when he was first diagnosed as being unwell, and I never really knew until I was informed that he had suffered a "mild cardiac episode". I knew though that when he became President of the Republic a regimen of rest away from office was implemented on Wednesdays, when he would either remain at State House or repair to his Bel Air residence.

At home  Dr Jagan worked informally on statements, speeches, articles and research papers. I would invariably assist him in those tasks. But the only time when I went to State House to review a speech, it was evident from his swollen, dark eye sockets that he had had a hard, long, night of work.

His after-lunch rest hour then was a necessity for Dr Jagan who would have started his day long before sunrise. However, when he came to the Office of the President, his siesta became irregular. His rest time          was constantly pushed to later in the afternoon then, at times, not at all.

I believe that that was the reason for the imposition of a day off on Wednesdays. But if frugality for him meant that time should not be          squandered, it was his thoughtfulness about what his colleagues should do with their time that added novelty to his day off.

One day our late President announced casually at Cabinet that he had started routine exercise in the National Park in Georgetown.

Rather than using up precious office hours for scheduled monthly meetings with each of his ministers, he thought out an innovative plan: he would invite ministers, one at a time, to accompany him on his walk around the park. In that way, he had explained, the ministers would do two things simultaneously: keeping their monthly appointment with him and exercising.

Like work, exercise for him was both fun and tonic. He told us often that he exercised while reading his newspapers, or listening to the radio -          his favourite pastime.

The President's Engagement Diary had me down for a walk on Wednesday,February 12, 1997 at 5 p.m.

In preparation I took my dark blue sweat suit to my ministry, which was on the ground floor of the Office of the President.

It was the first time that I was going to the National Park for a jog. I didn't know what to expect. I was slightly overweight and I didn't think I could run. What if Dr Jagan decided to trot around the park?

But there I was, filled with mystery and expectation, on my first outing in the park with my "Comrade Leader". I parked my car at the northern entrance and waited.

I allowed my eyes to roam around the park in a mental survey of the distance I would have to do. Just then I saw Central Bank official, Dr  Gobind Ganga, who had served on the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the University of Guyana and, more recently, on an advisory team for the privatisation of the Guyana Electricity Corporation.

Ganga approached me. He said that the President wanted to have a talk with him and that he was asked to meet him here at the park.

Poor Ganga, he didn't know that he would have to trek and talk. I glanced  at his white shirt-jac, black office pants and hard, leather shoes. I          knew that he was not prepared for a walk.

When I told him what to expect, he sauntered to his vehicle and was back in a jiffy. His shirt-jac was tucked into his pants, and he was ready for any action. By then, the President's car appeared.

If Ganga wasn't prepared for the Park, Dr Jagan didn't dress for the sleek presidential car from which he had emerged. He had on the off-cream  pants I had seen him in many, many years before. Those Hungarian pants!

We had bought them in the summer of 1978 when we went together on a political mission to Budapest.

I believe that our nation's father couldn't throw away anything and he kept those pants together with some stitches here and there. I bet that he did the stitching himself, as he had done tailoring in jail when he gave up wood-working after accidentally injuring his finger.

His jailing, of course, was another matter. It was a symbolism of the conversion of Guyana into a colonial prison from which our dreams          couldn't escape for an entire generation.

But it was the Hungarian pants that survived to that unforgettable day when I joined Ganga for Comrade Cheddi's last lap around the National Park.

He wore a white T-shirt with some markings on it, and a white baseball cap. I think it was from a local rice company.

His track boots were unmistakably small for an aged warrior.

"Hi there!" he greeted us with those familiar two words.

"Well,how many laps are we going for?" I asked as he held my shoulder.

"Sometimes I do two, sometimes more."

I was worried about the "more". I didn't want to walk by his side and let him hear my heavy breathing.

He shook Ganga's hand and he placed himself between us. I was on his right, on the inner side. We started off leisurely on the narrow, pitched track along an avenue bordered by trees.

It was "Comrade Cheddi", as we addressed him endearingly, who had freed this park up for popular recreation during a previous government, which he then headed as Premier. The sprawling, green landscape had been an exclusive golf club for the privileged and elite.

As we walked, Dr Jagan started his business with me in two words:          "Everything alright?"

I also answered dismissively, "Yes".

I knew that that day I was to listen. It was my turn to learn.

The discussion was about privatisation in general and, more particularly, about the Guyana Electricity Corporation.

Comrade Cheddi spoke about the national interest, the risk in building monopolies, the impact of privatisation on the working people and on the poor. It was a lecture in classical political economy, but his tone was hushed, and he sounded conspiratorial.

Just then Mike Brassington, the head of the Privatisation Unit, passed us. He was walking with his wife in an opposite direction. He raised his          hand, and Comrade Cheddi simply nodded.

The GEC was in shambles when the PPP/Civic government took over, he reminded us. GEC has made significant progress and it must be set right before the next (1997) elections.

GEC was an example of the stubbornness of the government to set things right. Therefore a privatisation model must not lose sight of the gains so far.

He wanted publicity on what improvements had been made and the new assets that were bought with government's own money to stop the endemic blackouts, and stabilise power supply.

As we were nearing the National Park stadium, my colleague Bert Wilkinson, the local AP correspondent, hailed at us. He was playing softball, and he pointed at my bulging tummy and must have said something like          "Cheddi looks far fitter then you!" We laughed and continued around the bend.

It was an afternoon of respect. Couples said "good afternoon", children hailed "President Jagan!" and persons unbeknown to him giggled and shyly said "hello".

We passed David de Caires, the Editor-in-Chief of Stabroek News, walking with, I believed, a lanky PNC Parliamentarian, John de Freitas. They passed us on the right, inner edge of the track. Comrade Cheddi did not notice them.

De Caries lifted his eyes, but went past us silently. He was to look at the living face of the Guyanese leader he had cruelly criticised with          predictable regularity just one more time.

That was on the second and final lap.

The conversation became more intense. Comrade Cheddi was concerned about the implications for the big and powerful industrialised states of the divestment process in Guyana. While he drew a distinction between the Canadian "social" approach and the American's "profit bottom-line"  approach to foreign investment, he held an open attitude towards privatisation.

His principle on privatisation was simple: "If we have to, we would; if we don't, we won't".

He wanted care to be taken at every stage of the process, and that it must not appear that there had been any preference for companies or any notion of a raw deal for any of them.

Above all, he wanted that with regards to GEC two things should be clear:firstly, the assets of the corporation should be fairly assessed; and secondly, that any post-privatisation agreement must protect the consumers from high or arbitrary charges.

As we finished the second and final lap, it began to drizzle. We continued a while in the drizzle, but the drivers were bringing out umbrellas.

The Guyanese leader noticed that others were walking in the rain,          including a young niece, Dionne. He didn't want to appear indiscreet. So he waved the umbrellas away and beckoned us into his car.

I dived into the front seat and he and Ganga huddled in the back.

The conversation was switched to finance, and Ganga, now wearing his Bank of Guyana hat, was doing much of the talking. Comrade Cheddi was listening with deep intensity.

He was asking many questions. And Ganga was explaining how excess liquidity was being mopped up, the impact on inflation of lower interest on treasury bills, and the role of the Central Bank in fiscal management.

It was a conversation that could have gone on and on, but the guards signalled to Comrade Cheddi that it was time to leave.

Little did I know then that that was my last lap with our Mahatma, who was to fall mortally ill two days later.

Dr Jagan knew that he had another appointment that afternoon, and he drove off into the hazy evening.

We had lost the sun and darkness was about to engulf us.

(Mr   Nagamootoo was Information Minister.)

Now who is speaking the truth and who is the Jack-ass.

Let us ignore them Donkey when them chatting....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mXsPMcRU78

They can be increased to sate your appetite.

A man of literary dimensions...........

perhaps....perhaps not!

To be.......or not to be......

How about if you guys just cut the crap and leave the man alone?

I agree with Abidah.....

lef de ole man alone....

eee got enough problem when eee go to the bathroom.

Always Forgetful.....if ee tek off eee pants....

Maybe....Maybe not

Perhaps....Perhaps not

Poor Fella always in a mess....

eee in Deep $hit.

Thinking and Doing are two different things

Most Time...eee think eee tek off ee pants

This pedophile jailiki trolling. They should lock him up for molesting young boys.

Jealous eh? You only wish it were true, you woulda made friends with him.