The Presenter ash nee sing seems like he was drunk the entire session of the budget presentation.

I cannot imagine that these crooks that calls themselves ppp/c give to old age pensioner $600 Guyana Dollars, these scumbags does not have an iota of shame.

$3 a month increase. It probably does not even cover the cost of inflation.

BETTER GUYANA
The Finance Minister stressed that Budget 2014 is all about creating a better Guyana, a Guyana of greater opportunity, for all Guyanese.
He said: “It might be somewhat ironic for me to say it now, but had brevity not been a paramount consideration, the theme of this year’s budget could equally have been By All Guyanese, A Better Guyana, for All Guyanese.”
Singh made it clear that the provisions in the Budget addresses issues that matter to Guyanese and the country as a whole.
He said: “They include ensuring that the climate and environmental services provided by our standing forests are adequately remunerated by the global consuming community, thereby generating revenue for our country while preserving our endowment of nature.
“They include attracting the inflows of private capital to make Guyana self-sufficient in clean energy and an exporter of renewable energy to our neighbours, thereby reducing the cost and improving the reliability of power domestically while earning inflows from energy exports.
“They include producing more food for domestic consumption and for export to the Caribbean, reducing our import bill and creating growth opportunities for our agricultural sector.
“They include making Guyana a major exporter of services in the global business process outsourcing industry, creating technology based jobs for our young people.
“They include making Guyana a destination of first choice by the global tourist looking for forest and nature adventure, thereby creating business opportunities in our hospitality sector.
“They include ensuring that every single young Guyanese person is sufficiently well educated and equipped with the skills required to enter and succeed in the world of work, thereby earning an income for themselves and contributing to the national productive effort.
“They include ensuring that every citizen has access to a safe and clean environment, thereby contributing to their own wellness and wellbeing.”

excerpts from the Guyanachroinlce

The most important thing that was deliberatley left out, was income tax relief for the poor man. As we go ahead and disect this budget we will realise that the poor and needy were screwed left right and center by the Corrupt PPP/C, I cannot imagine the the pensioners were only given $625 Guyana Dollars per month, about US$3 per month. 

Starvation and Slave wages still remains.

Guyana gets $220B budget…… US$4M

to build Hospitality Institute…US$30M

bail out for GuySuCo… $18.5M bail out

for GPL…old age pensioners get US$3

increase

A $6B bailout for the ailing Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), a $3.7B bailout for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and a $625 increase for Old Age Pensioners are among the features of the $220B Budget announced yesterday by Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh.
Under the theme, ‘A better Guyana for all Guyanese’ the Finance Minister yesterday spoke for nearly three hours, detailing the largest budget ever and comes on the heels of the eighth year of economic growth.
Dr. Singh, in his presentation, yesterday, said that the budget is fully financed with no new taxes. Among the measures for the populace, specifically pensioners, there is a five percent increase. Old age pensioners will now be receiving $13,125 per month.
He also included among the measures for old age pensioners an increase in the electricity assistance programme.
Dr. Singh reminded that last year Government gave the pensioners $20,000 a year meant to assist them to pay their electricity bills. This will be increased to $30,000.

Dr Ashni Singh (standing) presents the 2014 Budget as MPs pay rapt attention.

The Finance Minister also announced that in an effort to give additional support to parents of school aged children, “Government will provide a cash grant to the parents of every child attending nursery, primary or secondary school in the public education system in the amount of $10,000 per child for the year 2014.”
Dr. Singh also announced a countrywide cleanup campaign to the tune of $1B, of which $500M will be used to clean up Georgetown.
The Finance Minister said that there can be no doubt that Georgetown has a serious sanitation problem that can no longer be ignored.
“Government can no longer stand by in hope, waiting in vain for comatose local government bodies to address this problem,” said Dr. Singh.
In addressing the bailout for GuySuCo, Dr. Singh told the House that “much has already been said and will undoubtedly continue to be said in the coming weeks about the challenges that bedevil the sugar industry…
“Our Government’s commitment to the long term viability and profitability of the sugar industry has been unswerving throughout the years, and this commitment has manifested itself not in void rhetoric but in tangible support.
It was to this end, according to the Finance Minister, that Budget 2014 provides for Government to transfer a further $6B to help the industry achieve the reversal of its fortunes.
Despite the dismal performance of the sector last year, Dr. Singh is projecting that this year the industry is expected to produce 215,910 tonnes of sugar as against the 186,000 tonnes last year.
Despite a record performance last year in the rice industry, the Finance Minister said that this year the Government intends to inject $500M into the industry to support its efforts to increase competitiveness and resilience.
Dr. Singh argued that it is “imperative that the industry be placed on a path that would sustain its strong performance even under the most testing conditions.”
As it relates to Rural Enterprise Development, Dr. Singh said Government intends to encourage and promote more aggressively the emergence of entrepreneurial ventures in rural communities with an emphasis on small businesses and labour intensive activities, the principal aim being creation of jobs for young people.
As a result, $1B has been allocated to support this initiative and “it is expected that thousands of persons will benefit, either through employment obtained or other linkages, from enterprise incubation grants made under this facility.”
Dr. Singh also announced that given what he calls the bright prospects of tourism and hospitality industry in recent years, there is going to be a demand for skilled labour in the sector. This has to be addressed.
As such Dr. Singh announced that Government has allocated US$4M to build a “hospitality institute to ensure that we produce world class personnel for this important industry going forward.”
According to Dr. Singh, tourist arrivals have increased, international media coverage has been strongly favourable, and important niche markets are emerging for the local tourism product.
“All indications are that this sector will be a key contributor to value added production as well as job creation in the near and medium term.”
On the matter of a bail out to the GPL, the Finance Minister told the House that fuel prices remain high and the company has faced considerable challenges meeting the cost of its operations without a tariff increase since 2007.
According to Dr. Singh, in order to ensure that the company can meet its investment and operational obligations, Government has allocated $3.7B to support critical capital expenditure.
He said that should this not happen, steeper tariffs would be unavoidable.
The Minister reported also that, no progress has been made on the matter of adjusting electricity tariffs in Linden.
As a result there is an allocation of $3.2B to meet the cost of maintaining the electricity subsidy in Linden and Kwakwani.
Dr. Singh also announced that $1B has been allocated to be expended on rehabilitating critical interior roads including the Linden to Lethem road.
According to Dr. Singh, “access to our hinterland communities remains absolutely critical to the wellbeing of our more remote communities as well as to the economy of our country.”
Dr. Singh in looking towards the performance of the economy in the company year said that Guyana is expected achieve another year of positive growth.
He said that the economy is projected to expand by 5.6 per cent and that 2014 should see a five per cent inflation rate.

Opposition resolute on ‘drastically

amending’ $220B Budget

- Allocations for GuySuCo, Specialty Hospital and Amaila Hydro Project will not be approved-Greenidge

By Kiana Wilburg
The political opposition was grossly disappointed yesterday when the $220B budget was presented by Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh in the National Assembly. As such, they have already stated that the budget will be significantly modified.

Carl Greenidge, APNU’s Shadow Minister of Finance

The 2014 budget which turned out to be the largest budget to be laid in the Parliament by Dr. Singh was deemed the worse when compared to last year’s. This was according to A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) Shadow Minister of Finance, Carl Greenidge.
Greenidge said that his comment was grounded in the fact that this year’s budget, among other critical deficiencies, provided no solid plan for the improvement of the poor and homeless. “The plan for the poor is nothing but a joke.” He then stressed that the coalition will not approve the budget as presented and that it will be “drastically amended.”
The Members of the Alliance For Change (AFC) absented themselves from the presentation. The AFC made clear by way of a notification yesterday that it would not be present at the reading of the 2014 budget since it was not a part of the consultations.
The missive explained that the action was a representation of its protest against the violation of the Constitution by the government in not holding meaningful consultations with the opposition considering that it had the time to do so.
Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan said that he was privy to a large portion of the budget.  He said that his party will not approve certain parts of the budget. Rather, it will join with the members of the APNU to amend certain parts of the budget.
“I believe that (the budget) does not have any plan for the improvement of the lives of the poor and it could have been better had the opposition been consulted. The budget will pose a lot of challenges and it will see the non-approval of very many line items.”
APNU Leader, Brig. David Granger also shot down the budget. He described it as one that does not aim at development but is rather one geared towards repair and maintenance.

APNU’s Leader,
David Granger

“It does not substantially affect the lives of the poor people. It does not indicate that it will improve jobs for the poor people and I don’t think the measures there could relieve poverty… I feel the budget is divorced from reality.”
Commenting on the Old Age pension, Granger said that his coalition was hoping for $15,000 per month.  “That was our target. But what might sound ok for Georgetown may not be good for people in the hinterlands who have to come down to collect their pensions.”
The APNU Leader said that when one considers the distance some residents of the Hinterland Region have to travel and the cost of living, it is a different reality; the five percent increase is not going to change their lives.
Jaipaul Sharma, one of the financial experts of the APNU said that it is the most unrealistic budget he has ever heard.
“The budget is $220.047B. The total revenue estimated to be collected is $207.272 B which will give u a short fall of $12.775B. The revenue in my estimation is unrealistic and the evidence is right there in the estimates… when you compare what was estimated in the 2013 budget from what was actually collected, the shortfall was very great.
“I feel the budget has too large a deficit.  It’s a budget to impress the people with a set of goodies and a lot of plans but it cannot deliver.”
Greenidge said that for all this enormous growth, which seemed to have occurred when Dr. Singh came into office in 2006, he still failed to address issues such as infant mortality, migration, unemployment and suicide in Guyana.
While Greenidge made it pellucid that any allocation made for the Amaila Falls Hydro Project will not see the opposition’s approval, he did elaborate on his concerns for other areas of the budget which will be amended.

$910M allocated for Specialty Hospital
“As far as I am concerned that has absolutely nowhere to go and I am not the only one who shares that view.  I wish to emphasize to the public that this whole issue of the Hospital is a con. It is what is commonly known as a confidence trick. The government and its spokesmen and even some of our own have made it seem as though it will be filling a niche in the health care supply system.

Khemraj Ramjattan, Leader of the AFC

“The hospital is meant to be a private hospital and the infrastructure is meant to be funded by the Indian government by way of a line of credit. It shouldn’t be having money from the government of Guyana. It is not geared to provide services to us and even a more grave concern is that it is not geared to use Guyanese skills by way of the doctors.”

$6B allocated for GuySuco
The politician added that he will not be supporting the $6B allocated for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). And as such that is an area that will be amended.
“We have begged the government to set up a Commission to take a better look at the industry and its deficiencies but they have not listened. The Minister has the arrogance today (yesterday) that in proof of their support and commitment to sugar they will ask for $6B.
“If they were that supportive of the industry then they would have ensured that the issues affecting the company would have been dealt with instead of coming for subsidies to bail it out.”

$6.9B allocated for Drainage and Irrigation
The APNU Member said that the government continues to fail to recognize that this area needs regular maintenance and not, “a quick fix during emergencies.”
“We are spending significant amounts on drainage and every year we get floods that are worse that the years before.  The government then awards projects on a last minute basis and in the end taxpayers are being called upon to foot the bill.

Minister of Finance,
Dr. Ashni Singh

Dr. Singh failed to say why this money he is asking for will make a difference in the improvement of the situation. He should also say where the Surendra pumps are. We are not going to approve this.”

$220B Budget "DIVORCED FROM

REALITY

APNU’s Leader,
David Granger

“It does not substantially affect the lives of the poor people. It does not indicate that it will improve jobs for the poor people and I don’t think the measures there could relieve poverty… I feel the budget is divorced from reality.”

Ashni Singh will go down as the GREATEST Finance Minister on the Planey. God Bless Guyana and the PPP Govt.  Five more years, Five more years.  LET PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY CONTINUES!!!

oppostion always complain about a budget in every country

For starters we have a budget with a built in 40% deficit. The lions share of income is from taxing the people.

I will have to read the actual document to comment better.

the man that cause a early election

Old Age Pensioners to get $625 top up

• Monday, 24 March 2014 20:07

Pensioners waiting to uplift their pension books (GINA file photo)

"Man in the street comments "

THIS IS A, SOUP DRINKERS BUDGET.

The PPP is just a corrupt Imperialist Rich Man's Party that uses lies and propaganda to manipulate the masses. They feel that most guyanese people simply wants to be rich like they are so they keep carving out budgets with lots of PORK in order to offering hundreds of contracts to friends and family to keep the music playing.And the party going. This is how come there are all the KICKBACKS and over payments and never a prosecution.

This budget is the most anti-poor people budget ever presented in parliament by any previous administration . Even the proposed $ 10,000 educational grant program is more about assisting parents who can otherwise easily afford it. Rather than using that initiative to target low income families .

This government is all about INCOME REDISTRIBUTION . And cares. Nothing about equity or fairness. Pradoville tells the entire story about what fairness means to them .

The $6 B bailout of Guysuco is not to safeguard the jobs of the average field worker or any other laboure or to keep the corperation operational . But it's simply to guarantee that the Board and Management continue to remain on the Guysuco payrolls with their huge salaries. The Opposition shouldn't approve a penny of that money unless Management is downsized, the entire Board is replaced and a SENSIBLE Reorganization plan is in place. If GUYSUCO'$ BOARD had any serious intention of mechanization how come after all these years of failure and constantly decreasing production they have never mentioned by what percentage or how MECHANIZATION Will increase production or how effective or EFFICENT that system will be. Or even how many workers will be displaced by the New Machines. And what the plan is with regards to helping those potential displaced workers find employment in other sectors of our economy. So clearly the promised MECHANIZATION is just a plan lie and a farce.

What effect would your negative comments have on the daily lives of the Guyanese population in Guyana? Are you a trained Harvard economist?

Showdown expected over NCN’s $81M, GINA $139M subsidies

- millions more budgeted for FIU, NIS

Despite threats from the Opposition over subsidies to the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN), the administration has again allocated millions of dollars in the 2014 National Budget for that entity.
NCN, a semi-autonomous agency, falls under the Office of the President. It is set to receive an $81.7M subvention.
The complaints against NCN and the Government Information Agency (GINA) have been growing in recent years.
The Opposition parties, especially, have been complaining that GINA was heavily biased in its coverage. In the case of NCN, private television stations have been criticizing the fact that the entity has been allowed overtime to compete with them by attracting advertisements, yet the entity receives financial assistance from Government.

GINA has been earmarked to receive $140M for its operations this year.
Already, the Opposition has warned that like the previous two years, it will be looking to amend the budget of both NCN and GINA.
The National Assembly, following the 2011 General and Regional Elections which handed the ruling party its first Parliamentary defeat in nearly two decades, has been grappling with the Opposition holding the majority. The Opposition in 2012 immediately reduced billions of dollars from the budget saying it was not satisfied with how the monies for a number of key infrastructural projects will be spent.
Last year, the cuts continued.
Government restored the budget to both entities last year after a controversial court decision which said that the National Assembly does not have the right to make cuts.
Also this year, as is normal, a number of other organizations and offices are set to receive subsidies from OP, which in overall amounts to $847.5M.
These include the Guyana Energy Agency -$73.5M; Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) -$119.7M; Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) -$122.5M and Integrity Commission -$17.1M.
The newly established Office of the Commissioner of Information, headed by former Attorney General, Charles Ramson, has a budget for $28.5M while the Office of the First Lady is earmarked for $10M.
Subsidies under the Ministry of Finance, according to the estimates of revenue and expenditure, are also significant. Almost $8.27B in subsidies and contributions are earmarked this year for 12 agencies.
These include the all important Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a regulatory body that will have the all-important task of overseeing Guyana’s implementation of critical anti-money laundering regulations. That body will receive $73.7M, up from the almost $52M spent last year.
The other agencies also include Ethnic Relations Commission -$61.9M; Guyana Revenue Authority -$4.1B and LinMine Power – $2.8B.
Significantly, the National Insurance Scheme has $226M earmarked for it…some $116M more than last year. This particular allocation is bound to raise eyebrows from the Opposition when the debates began as NIS has been struggling for a while with the number of contributors falling and expenses rising significantly.
A significant subsidy increase this year will be to the Statistical Bureau which if approved could receive allocations of $327M, more than $80M more than 2013.
The Office of the Opposition Leader has also been seeing increases in recent years of Government subsidies. In 2013, while $8.1M was allocated, $13.7M was expended. This year, $15.2M has been budgeted.

Budget 2014…$6B allocation for

GuySuCo  

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Shadow Minister of Finance, Carl Greenidge, had said that he will not be supporting the $6B allocated for GuySuCo.  This is an area that will be amended, he said.

Comments:

Where is big figures, the corruptions and thievings will be bigger

Pensioners meagre amount of G$625 dollars:

This Corrupt PPP/C Government allocated G$625 to the poor and vulnerable, pensioners of Guyana. The amount of pensioners is being put by the PPP/C as 42,500: So the Corrupt Government gives the poor and needy $625, so lets do the maths, 42,500 pensioners x G$625 = G$26,562,500 (twenty six million, five hundred and sixty two and five hundred dollar)

Now if the Corrupt PPP/C were the give the pensioners G$2,500 it would mean that 42,500 x G$2,500 = G$106,250,000:

Which means that if the Corrupt PPP/C had given the pensioners 2,500 their bill would have been G$106,250,000: but they give G$26,562.500 (106,250,000 less 26,562500 = G$79,687,500

Means that had they given the pensioners $79,697,500 (Seventy Nine Millions) more, that would have been a livable amount with Pensioners moving to G$15,000 per month:

NB The rosters of 42,500 pensioners is a PPP/C figures, and because of their crookedness and lieing from the top to the bottom, that figure is suspect.

And once that figure is suspect.....then I would not be surprised to unearth more fraud and corruptions on the back of the poor and needy.

How more low can the Corrupt PPP/C get?

Firstly I must condemn the Minister of Finance for on of the worst Budget in Guyana's History.  It does very little for the working poor.

the man say is the biggest budget in ppp history,when the opposition finish with this budget it will be the smallest budget in the ppp history

Secondly this 2014 Budget provided too litle for too few and too much for the PPP tiefing cabal.

The PPP using this budget to bribe the farmers to get their vote in the local government elections but where was the PPP all these years when the farmers were suffering???

BUSY buying billion dollar sugar factory and tiefing half fuh them own pocket leaving Guyana with a FAT debt.

Why G$910 Million for the Specialty Hospital?

Is this money being put up as a con? Would the Corrupt PPP/C steal this?

When a hospital would be owned by a private entity and fees will be charged

for services........then why the Crooked Govt of Guyana is funding this for now to the tune of G$910 Millions?

These men have to be mad, and not only mad but mad like rass.

Look foward for the APNU/AFC to give Ash Knee a loong wood for him to play with.

by taking this out.

ONE OF THE WORST BUDGET IN  THE HISTORY OF GUYANA

$6B allocated for GuySuco

The politician added that he will not be supporting the $6B allocated for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). And as such that is an area that will be amended.
“We have begged the government to set up a Commission to take a better look at the industry and its deficiencies but they have not listened.

Pork in the barrell, why 6 Billion Dollars for Guysuco, is the Corrupt PPP/C going to thief some of this?

Every year Guyana Govt has been giving Guyscuo billions upon billions, yet there is no account how all these billions are being spent. Is it that some is going into the PPP/C Pocket? as bribes and kickbacks?

Pork is a way of life even in America. You have to provide for your consistuents, even if it's a waste(check the military contract states). It's a bargain chip each politician has. Doesn't mean it's morally right.

Quit the comparison, you are too bright for  that, Guyana is a poor country, we were poor when the Corrupt PPP/C took over power and twenty something years later with Bilions and billions of aid debts written off, then billions and billions wasted by the Corrupt PPP/C We are today the poorest, and as a poor nation, we cannot afford the extravagance of kickbacks and bribery and corruptions, despite if every country does it.

How can you condone kickbacks when Guyana is such a poor country? Is any of your family in the Guyana Government. The only reason I can see why you are so keen on defending the undefenseable. (sp)

After praising the 2014 Budget before reading, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Ronald Webster, throw them a curve ball.

Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Ronald Webster, was forced to provide comments to the Government Information Agency (GINA) that the Budget is very positive and the concepts are sound.

Webster however, said that one of his concerns with the budget is the continued subsidy on energy. “I would have preferred to see those subsidies being reduced over time and the money being invested in subsidies being put into old age pension schemes, possibly a restructuring of National Insurance Scheme (NIS) because from a private sector standpoint I think that would provide opportunities for investment in the energy sector, once it is operating on a level playing field,” he said.

But the PPP ain't finish with Guysuco yet.

the corporate needs at most $2 billion but the PPP FAT CATS got their eye on $4 billion.

In a crisis there are opportunities for bandits.

Doesn't mean it's morally right.

You guys seem to compare the lives you live here with that of the people in Guyana. It's a thing good to want your people to improve their lives. It takes two to tango. I can tell you without any guilt that there are some very lazy people in Guyana. There are also people who have their priorities all messed up. How can you say things are tough when you just ordered a $70,000.00 wrist band from the jeweller? Where are your priorities?

I have also seen bread winners whose first priority is to pay off their "rum debt" and buy more credit. What comes first, Gold or Rum or Family? 

The Scumbags of Guyana were pushing their dirty hands in the cookie jar and wondering how to make Guyana poorer. They were exporting drugs to the USA reason why the GAC went out of Business, they were robbing Guysuco of their prime lands and paying Guysuco pennies, They were involved in all crookishness that one can think of.

[www.inewsguyana.com] –

Even though the combined political opposition have expressed their disappointment with this year’s budget and signaled their intention to disapprove several sections, President Donald Ramotar remains hopeful that “good sense will prevail.”

At a press conference at the Office of the President on Thursday, March 27, Ramotar reiterated that the budget is aimed at improving the lives of the Guyanese people and is urging A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) to support the $220B budget.

“I hope better sense prevail…the budget will impact positively on people’s lives…I would hope that we begin looking at the interest of all our people,” President Ramotar said.

According to him, he finds it hard to understand why the Opposition will vote against development of Guyana.

“I find it hard to see how the Opposition will vote against these things. Had I been in their place, I would probably call for more but to vote against it seems to me to be illogical and in some ways trying to affect people’s lives. I know they did it in the past, I know they are capable of doing it again…but I’m an optimist, I hope that they will vote for this and we can move our country forward.”

When asked what measures his government will take if the Opposition votes against it, the President said, “If they don’t, then we will cross our bridges when we come to them.”

Soon after the 2014 budget presentation on March 24, Opposition Leader, David Granger told reporters that he was unimpressed with it.

The Opposition Leader opined that the budget is not developmental and will not substantially affect the lives of the masses, particularly poor people.

“It is simply not a development budget and country will be in the same position it is today come March 2015,” Granger had said.

The APNU has already stated that allocations for projects such as the Amaila Falls, the Specialty Hospital and the Guyana Sugar Corporation will not be approved.

Keep on begging for alms, maybe your wicked prayers will be heard by the devil

APNU will not support budget in its

entirety – Harmon

…unless demands for adjustments to critical infrastructure projects are met

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) will not support the National Budget 2014 in its entirety unless critical issues regarding several infrastructure projects such as the construction of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the Amaila Falls Hydropower Plant are addressed.

APNU Parliamentarian, Joseph Harmon

This was emphasised by APNU Parliamentarian Joseph Harmon during his budget debate presentation in the National Assembly yesterday.
Harmon, who is the shadow Minister for Public Works, made several recommendations which, if considered and implemented, would facilitate the successful passage of allocations for infrastructure projects which were highlighted in the budget.
According to Harmon, for APNU to support the allocation for the construction of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Plant, a Hydropower Authority must be established. This authority would be tasked with reviewing and deciding on all matters regarding the facility.
The Environmental Impact Assessment done by the Inter-American Development Bank should also be submitted to the National Assembly, he added.
“In the absence of the above and a clear identification of the investment partner, we shall be obliged to withhold our support for the allocation to the Amaila Falls Hydropower Plant,” he said.
Harmon believes that funding for the Amaila Falls Hydropower Plant should be redirected to the construction of ramps for speedboats, since the current structures are deplorable.
Another project that APNU wants more details on, before considering supporting the allocation, is the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion. Harmon emphasized that the full details, including amendments to this project, must be made available to the National Assembly.
“As a pre-condition, the issue of the residents of the Timehri North must be settled,” he said.
Harmon then noted that APNU fully endorses the construction of the new Demerara River Bridge since the current structure has aged. However, the Opposition coalition wants a Harbour Bridge Authority to be established to manage the affairs of the entity. Moreover, APNU is demanding the removal of NICIL and Winston Brassington from the project, Harmon said.
According to the parliamentarian, there should be full disclosure of the contract for the Corentyne River Bridge and construction of roads and bridges should be consolidated under the Ministry of Public Works.
He noted that in 2012, Government said it would have invested $11.8B on roads and bridges, but only $9.4B was spent. In 2013, Government was to invest $12.6B to further improve roads and bridges and only $11.3B of that amount was expended.
“In 2014, we are investing $13.7B to improve roads and bridges and once the pattern holds true, the full sum will not be spent…It seems clear that we have an issue here, of either poor planning, or poor execution of infrastructure works…Or is it that there is a systemic problem in the way Government spends in this sector…I refer to the manner in which responsibility for the construction of roads and bridges are divided up in the Government,” he said.
Harmon related that in Guyana the construction of roads and bridges is not limited to the Ministry of Public Works, but is divided among other entities such as the Ministries of Housing and Natural Resources and the Environment. This, he said, contributes to communities being exposed to different qualities of roads and contractors are allowed to get away with bad practices while citizens’ complaints are not heeded.
“Our demand is that this practice must be put to an end…Make one Minister responsible for roads and bridges in Guyana. If Minister Benn can’t do it, straighten him or his Ministry. In an APNU Government this will be a priority,” he said.
In amplifying his point, Harmon referred to Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh’s budget presentation, where he mentioned that $12.7B of this year’s budget will be spent on roads, among which is the construction of the Parika to Ruby backdam road.
“No sooner than the budget is read, we see a notice in the Newspaper dated 30th March, 2014 calling for expressions of interest for the building of a road from Parika to Goshen by GGMC…Are we building one road over the other? Will this be a fly-over road?” Harmon asked.

Budget 2014

March 31, 2014 · By Staff Writer · 

Very early into his 2014 budget presentation, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh expressed great pride that the country had experienced eight consecutive years of GDP growth with last year’s being  5.2%. The figure and sustained growth are to be commended, except that critics and the average citizen would query whether that expansion in GDP has accomplished two things: a significant upswing in the job market and the lifting of the per capita income particularly for those under and near the poverty line. Such analysis has not been a feature of the Minister’s annual presentations or for those that preceded his but without that type of correlation, the annual growth figure is a mere statistic; the type that is summoned up from deep recesses to impress.

An enduring and inestimable flaw in PPP/C budgets are their unwillingness to address the evident unemployment and underemployment in the economy. Nowhere in the Finance Ministry’s annual activities or in the government’s interface with the public is the matter of the unemployment figure addressed and there is no policy or programmatic attempt to confront it in the 2014 budget. It must mean that the government has no ideas on how to create jobs or even to stimulate the private sector to accomplish this – the lone big project in recent years being Qualfon’s call centre. The Minister of Finance was able to complete his lengthy presentation without any direct reference to unemployment and the measures that the government would take. The results of the 2012 National Census, which may shed some light on this, are still being awaited in 2014. It seems that the government’s answer to this issue of unemployment is merely to continue highlighting the varied youth training programmes being offered by it and non-governmental organisations. These may create some enterprising entrepreneurs and lead to a few jobs but certainly not in the quantities that are needed.

Qualfon’s six thousand promised jobs in business process outsourcing is undoubtedly a big development in the information technology sector. That aside, the government has been unable through policies or by attracting investors to significantly transform the economy. The danger of this straitjacket was evident in the fall in foreign exchange earnings in 2013. Sugar was down because of production problems, so too was the economic star, gold because of the slide in world prices. Rice returns were up but in essence a set off against what Guyana would have spent purchasing oil. Bauxite and timber had unimpressive showings. There was no other co-star to share the stage. Twenty-two uninterrupted years of PPP/C governance has failed to restructure and transform the pillars of the economy and there are dangers to each of the established sectors in the years ahead.

One of the major measures announced by the Minister in this year’s budget, the $6B subvention for the Guyana Sugar Corporation will undoubtedly become a major flashpoint during the consideration of estimates by the Committee of Supply. The announcement of the subvention is as audacious as the bold-facedness with which it has been presented. Given the deep troubles facing GuySuCo, senior government spokesmen have gone on the offensive defending the subvention on the grounds that sugar has historically given to the country far more than these amounts. It is not an argument that will give the subvention a free pass.

If he wants this subvention to be approved, a total of $11B in three years, Minister Singh will clearly have to present to the Committee of Supply a viable plan for lifting GuySuCo out of its indebtedness and production rut. The problems are well known but neither the government nor GuySuCo project any real command of them. Therein lies the dilemma. Given the slumping production in recent years, the loss of a significant part of the labour force, poor field and agronomic practices, the size of the wage bill, impending negative developments in the EU market and the intractable problems at the Skeldon factory, the government has to lay out a convincing plan to the  public that GuySuCo will be able to begin a sustained turnaround as was the case in the early 1990s. The omens are not positive and the government appears frozen in the politics of sugar and unable to take the right decisions even in relation to the composition of the board and management. Even after costly adjustments to the mammoth Skeldon factory it won’t deliver what it had promised five years ago. It is a disastrous result which the government will have to admit to and face otherwise the Skeldon factory and the industry will continue to be a drain on a weak economy.

Before a vote on the subvention is taken by the Committee of Supply there should be a forensic examination of GuySuCo’s accounts over the last five years, an assessment of its indebtedness and the scrutinizing of its present recovery plan to evaluate whether there is risk of continuing in the present direction. The government will have to explain what about the industry’s circumstances in 2014 necessitates a whopping $6B compared to $1B in 2013 and whether there is any certainty of recovery in the short to medium term. The use of recent subventions to GuySuCo and the large tranches from the European Union in accompanying measures since 2007 must be explained thoroughly. This openness and transparency should not be a problem for the government as the Minister himself acknowledged in his budget speech that GuySuCo will have to take a series of steps to “survive”.

Elsewhere in the budget, the large subsidy subventions for the Guyana Power Light (GPL) and electricity supply in Region 10 speak          of the drift in government policy and the failure to address the underlying challenges. Government and Region 10 are still to engage on the power subsidies that rose to the fore in the middle of 2012 while the subventions to GPL are a result of the absence a diversified energy supply with an increasing emphasis on non-carbon options. The tortuous and stalemated moves on hydropower have highlighted this shortcoming.

There are no breathtaking policies or changes in Minister Singh’s speech which will give hope for a floating of all boats on a resurgent tide, just a marking of time. Benefits for the elderly have been adjusted slightly but larger issues like the fate of the NIS have not been tackled head-on. Embarrassingly, the government’s two-year-old promise on tax reform is yet to be delivered.

Amid this lacklustre presentation, the populace is now left to await the outcome of the debate and the fate of the budget considering the ruling of Justice Chang. One hopes that both sides of the House will carefully consider the gravity of the matter before them.

Ashnee The Magician Pulls a rabbit out of thin Air

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Budget 2014 a `huge disappointment’

– Ram and McRae

March 31, 2014 · By Stabroek editor ·

In their detailed annual review, accounting firm Ram and McRae says the 2014 budget is a “huge disappointment” and contends that at least one of its provisions makes it “dead on arrival”.

In a 12-page edited version of the Budget Focus in today’s Stabroek News, Ram and McRae says the budget seems to contain only a shopping list for Expenditure while offering nothing on employment creation and the critical issues of corruption and better public sector financial management.

“Indeed, there is growing evidence that the country’s financial management is under serious threat, despite regular warnings. Despite the usual grandiloquence there is no real evidence of a central theme or the direction in which the Government proposes to take the country”, the chartered accounting firm said in its conclusion.

It charged that the budget placed very little attention on job creation and none on the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), which it says is still reeling from the loss of monies in the CLICO collapse.

“Dr. Ashni Singh is not only the Minister responsible for the NIS but was also the Minister responsible for CLICO’s oversight when it collapsed. It is all the more troubling that there is such little interest in what is an equally badly executed liquidation”, Ram and McRae said.

Noting that little was said about the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project and how the need for low-cost energy will be met, the accounting firm said that concerns that there may be moves to restore the project cannot be discounted even as the Government announced a study into the feasibility of hydropower from Mazaruni.

“Indeed Ram & McRae finds it hard to understand the $16,000 million allocated for equity contribution to the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project. We believe that item alone makes this Budget incapable of approval, or in common parlance, dead on arrival”, the budget review said.

Ram and McRae contended that Singh’s presentation was a budget driven by subsidies and handouts with the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and Guyana Power and Light, Inc. (GPL) continuing as major beneficiaries even though the Government is resisting a review of their operations. The accounting firm says it seems irresponsible for GuySuCo to be provided further budgetary support until it complies with the law relating to the presentation of annual accounts and reports.

Ram and McRae also reviewed the controversial decisions by the Court in the “Budget Cuts Case”.

“We believe that the court fell into error and therefore welcome the decision by the Speaker to appeal the decision of the one-man constitutional court. The National Assembly now proceeds to have the Estimates examined by the Committee of Supply which the court stripped of any real purpose and function, prompting one seasoned commentator to describe the process as “high farce””, the budget review said.

It added that the National Assembly has been stymied in its work by the Executive and the President who “appears to treat the opposition as an obstacle rather than a partner in progress”.

The review said if there is no progress on settling the impasse over the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism amendments, all the projects by the Minister of Finance could be placed in jeopardy. “We therefore join in appealing to everyone to put Guyana first”, the review said.

“Ram & McRae predicts that the Government will have a difficult time to persuade the parliamentary opposition to support certain budgetary allocations for projects and initiatives that appear to have received inadequate planning; or to allow the spending on NCN from which so much of the country is shut out; or to finance some of the government’s pet projects.

“There is a belief that the PPP/C is unwilling to function without a clear majority which would allow it to have its unhindered way in the Assembly. Cynics might even suggest that the 2014 Budget was designed to invite a rejection of the Budget and justify returning to the polls and forestalling long delayed and much feared local government elections”, Ram and McRae asserted