During the 2011 Elections campaign, the AFC had promised senior citizens a $10,000 old age pension package and the Party is pleased that its militancy during the budget debate forced the government to reconsider its position.

 

If supported, the recent Motion by the AFC could have seen some $3billion is taxpayers money being diverted away from exorbitantly priced projects that are often done below standards into the pockets of low income earners.

While it welcomes the announcements by Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh that old age pensioners will get a further increase from $8,100 to $10,000 monthly and those by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds on the liberalization of television especially for residents of Linden, the Party recommits to the judicious trimming of the 2012 national budget.

 

It is clear that these recent announcements are as a result of the no-nonsense approach taken by the AFC during the debates and Motions tabled in the House to trim away ‘pork-barrel’ projects that give way to sweet-heart deals between the government and its cronies.

"It is clear that the Prime Minister’s announcement was made in the hope that the AFC will change its position on NCN and GINA. The AFC will not deviate from its position even though it may be the only opposition party to take this stand."

 

 

 

For the Neemerakaramnains ( nice word eh? ) out there who constantly cry drivel about AFC=APNU. Y'all rass much closer to them than the AFC.

This is why we does have to keep watch pon all o' yall.

oops!

I wouldn't call it militancy. What it is is an indication to the electorate how much better Guyana will be under the AFC. If a party of so few members in parliament can make such a big and progressive impact on the standard of living for so many Guyanese, just consider what the AFC could achieve if fully in control.

THE PPP GOVT IS THE MOST CARING AND COMPASSIONATE ON THE PLANET.

May we have an example of such an "exorbitantly priced project"? This sounds a bit like World Bank-speak.

The budget debate has now reached astronomical ridiculousness on the part of the opposition presentations and arguments in parliament, so much so that I am seriously questioning whether the introduction of cameras for the purpose of televising these debates a good initiative or simply a distraction to the members of parliament, namely APNU and AFC.

It would appear that the clamor over celebrity status has had a metamorphic effect on the personality of these MPs, with many displaying their ‘Sasha Fierce’ alter egos, right before your eyes politicians becomes actors and actors takes the place of politicians, whose only interested in delivering speeches based on popular political rhetoric and sound bites with hope of it being circulated in time for the nightly news and daily newspapers.

When are these people going to realize that elections have long passed and time for political grandstanding has expired? We are no longer on the campaign trail; therefore we must not tolerate the peddling of unrealistic proposals and baseless claims by these flaccid non entities.

The AFC and APNU are clearly out of their league and are out of touch on issues pertaining to the economy and have miscalculated the ramification it would it incur on the unsuspecting thousands of working class families and corporations in which they so falsely claim to represent, should this irrationality and political posturing were allowed to prevail.

The provenance of my contention derives from the circulation of an AFC amendment to the budget which proposes astronomical cuts to government expenditure that specifically targets the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, and the Ministry of Housing and Water.

Its boggles the mind to conceive why the AFC who claims to represent the working class would propose the retrenching of hundreds of public servants that are employed at these ministries, are they acting in the best interest of these people or themselves.
These proposed cuts will do more harm than good if the AFC is to be taken seriously, then we can kiss good bye to Tourism Development, the Competitiveness Strategy Program, Georgetown Sanitation Improvement Program, the Water Supply Program, not even the National Sports Commission which many of our youths and athletes are beneficiaries of this body were spared.

Mr. Ramjettan of the AFC should be meticulous in his approach towards the budget our economy would suffer the worst fate should we accept these proposals. Since reducing government spending would mean fewer money being pumped into the economy, while lowering VAT would also mean less revenue collected by government, therefore, increasing wages would be almost impossible if we were to reduced government revenue and cut government spending at the same time.

If the AFC agenda is to target the government then AFC’s agenda is to hurt the people of Guyana. I believe that the AFC is being too unrealistic and is on a course to deceive the people.

 

 

 

Here's a very funny video which features the spiritual father of the AFC, Dick Morris.

It is clear that these recent announcements are as a result of the no-nonsense approach taken by the AFC during the debates and Motions tabled in the House to trim away ‘pork-barrel’ projects that give way to sweet-heart deals between the government and its cronies.

Could you name the "SOME BODY AT THE GPL  GETTING 12,000US PER MONTH?

Mitwah, I'm asking for an example of an unnecessary or exorbitantly priced "pork-barrel" project.

Do your own research. You playing shcupid or wuh?

 

Mitwah, the whole point of your thread is to advertise the AFC's claim that they are stopping unnecessary or overly-expensive projects. Why would you refuse to name such a project, so that we could better understand what the AFC really stands for?

It would be interesting to see the real background of people on this forum who clamor about corruption and dictatorship in Guyana. Not a pretty sight.

How about the $580M Liliendaal pool that could have been built for $200M?  Do I need to mention the Amaila Falls Road?  What about the Skeldon Factory?  What about the Marriott?  

 

What about the new East Bank Highway being built in the canals?  Need I tell you that the canals serve to hold water when the kokers are closed due to the tide?  Need I tell you too of a plan for an alternate road to the Airport/Linden Highway that has been around since the PNC days that would have been a better solution?   Yes?  No?

Compulsory reading for Uncle Henry: https://guyana.crowdstack.io/displayF...t/277980375291743073

AFC Whiz Kid, Gerhard Ramsaroop, could build the pool at Liliandhal out of Green heart Logs and Mora Boards at a price of 200 million Guyana dollars.

Do not worry with that conspiracy theorist nutcase. Had he ears to hear and eyes to see he would matter.

You forgot Fip, and paying BK twice to do the same piers having built it badly the first time in two instances. Then there is the 200 million white elephant in Skeldon and the framing of that bail out as a subsidy.

Well, that does give me something to work with. I am not familiar with the good and bad points of each individual project, but this quote does reveal something about the philosophy of the AFC:

 

What Mr Ramkarran is failing to tell the Guyanese public is that his party has committed the taxpayers to some $9 billion on the Fibre Optic Cable Project, money that could have been better spent by the private sector.  The AFC remains committed to privatizing this project in compliance with our philosophy that the private sector is the engine of growth and job creation.

 

Here I disagree. The lesson to be learned from the history of the US is that the private sector has never been the "engine of growth," particularly with respect to infrastructure programs such as the fibre-optic line. The reason for this is simple: major infrastructure takes a long time to pay for itself. A private firm is unwilling to wait that long to realize a profit. However, the government can and should invest in long-term projects, and the first thing they do is subcontract the work to private firms that are quite happy to accept the work if they are going to be paid in the short term. This is what built the United States under presidents like Lincoln and FDR.

I agree with you on that point, Uncle Henry.  My own philosophy is more aligned with socialism.  However, as it relates to the PPP, they do not engage in these projects transparently.  And that is putting it in the mildest possible terms.

The AFC and APNU are lacking in vision. The PPP is old hands at developing the country and therefore the other parties should team up with the PPP and build Guyana.

They are borrowing us into a hole while pillaging our natural resources and fattening the pocket of their friends. Pray tell; where is the money supposedly negotiated in the sale of our communications stock referenced in the current budget? Why is it that Brassington remain in possession of a reserve slush fund from sale of our national assets and that is yet to be accounted for in this budget or any budget in the past years? The PPP are crooks plain and simple and as long as they are unwilling to explain their spending and be accountable to parliament they should be called out and forced to be responsible.

Gerard is a socialist who cannot see the benefits of free enterprise getting a boost from government funding. In the US, the gov't uses the taxation system to encourage or discourage certain types of economic growth. It's no different from literally doling out grants to certain corporations that are involved in projects the gov't thinks will bring long-term benefits to the entire nation.

You AFC people are short-sighted and now trying to impress the public with all sorts of promises.

 

Unfortunately, for many decades now the gov't has been encouraging financial gangsters and parasites, while discouraging agriculture and manufacturing.

The Guyanese public is beginning to reap the benefits of a strong, vanguard third party and the Alliance For Change is honoured to be in a position where it can effect such change.

 

Uncle Henry, why do want to embarras your incompetent parasitic PPP/C? If you have been paying attention to the Auditor's reports for at least the past decade, or let's assume you were and still seems to be dumb, when will you ever understand what the AFC really stands for?

 

How about   $154 million De Willem Sluice, West Coast Demerara?

 

How about Stanleytown Pump Station, West Bank Demerara?

 

How about $200 million to construct an abattoir at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara?

 

When you get back to earth give me a holler. There's hole in your bucket dear Henry.

 

Does the AFC suggest different contractors that could do the jobs competently for less, or does the AFC advocate cancelling the projects a la the IMF?

Without constitutional reform the AFC remains the only hope to keep the PPP accountable. The AFC however needs to pick more efficient battles. For example GECOM reforms, privatization of Chronicle and NCN, and liberalization of the radio waves. If they don’t want privatization at least there should be the middle road like a BBC where the government cannot abuse the public media as I have seen during the last election. Is the AFC making sure that the PPP don’t trick them again with widely spread out and unnecessarily large numbers of poling stations? We have free but unfair elections. What can be done to bring back fair as in 1992 and 1997? What about local government elections? The latter will be a great victory for democracy in Guyana.

The BBC tried to go after the Blair government's "dodgy dossier" at the time the Iraq War was in preparation, and as a result, there was a big purge of the BBC editorial staff.

Unfair seems to be entrenched in your mind.

PPP/C is accountable.

 Haha. You don't seem to have a clue. When last you visited Guyana?

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And what is the point you are trying to make?

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Oh my...what a profound and deep one liner.

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I am quite fair even in my critique of the PPP.

...to party paramountcy, ethnic nepotism over merit and the increase of wealth for shareholders of PPPinc.