Opposition budget cuts a crime against the people

TODAY the peoples’ representatives from both sides of the House will begin the important debate of the sector estimates contained in this year’s national budget. The illegal opposition cuts, first initiated in 2012 and again in 2013 and the severe threat which such had posed to the advancement of the development process should still be fresh in the minds of Guyanese. Of course, they would be hoping that such recklessness is not again exacted on the continuous measures for their socio-economic well-being.Most Guyanese are of the view that the numerous government initiatives that have each year impacted on their lives have been to their enormous benefits, and that they do not wish that there should be any more of the dangerous opposition disruptions which have formed the core of the two parliamentary opposition parties, the A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change(AFC). In fact, they have taken great comfort in the judicial decision that has deemed the 2012 motion, illegal.
But again, one must comment on Budget 2014 and its measures, as being a continuous programme, with its unmistakable objective of improving lives. It is only the grudging and politically motivated will attempt to say/prove otherwise, for this budget is all about people.
The innovative intervention of the $10,000 grant per year to each school child, an initiative of a $2B cost is another step, incremental in nature, that has been joyfully welcomed by all parents, particularly single ones, whose experience of daily living and supporting their children at school is well documented.
This will have the undoubted effect, along with the already introduced National School Feeding programme, and the National School Uniform Assistance, of increasing school attendance and improving punctuality. In essence, there ought to be no excuse(s) for any child not attending daily classes.
Inevitably, the question that must follow is why should any opposition seek to cut such a measure that further fortifies the scholastic future of the nation’s children?
The increase in the annual subvention for old age pensioners, to Guyana Power and Light (GPL) is another in the on-going measures for making life comfortable for the nation’s senior citizens. From the initial sum of $20,000 introduced in Budget 2013, there is now a 50% hike that offers a total sum of $30,000 for old age pensioners who are customers of the national power company. This is an addition to a 5% increase on the current monthly rate of pension. There is also an arrangement with GWI, where pensioners pay a reduced tariff.
Again, as above, which opposition would want to make life uncomfortable for the aged, by denying them alleviating measures?
Since Amerindian development has been the continued focus of the government from the inception of office, another intervention has been announced in Budget 2014, in the form of $796M for the continuation of the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP). This will enable the latter to further expand in Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10, facilitating the construction of 100 ICT hubs, for the benefit of 57,000 persons, under the One Lap Top Per Family (OLPF) programme.
Is it not right that our hinterland people be part of the ICT revolution that has been a rapid part of the modernisation process? Which opposition would want to deprive a people their right of participating in a vital process of national development – technology?
Finally, single parents, an important segment of the population, and which category has continues to benefit from government programmes, specially designed to enhance their marketability through skills training. The Board of Industrial Training (BIT) Single Parent Training Programme will continue this year with training in basic entrepreneurship, networking, accounting, branding, promotion and advertising and packaging.
Which opposition that has preached so much about improving the capacity of one of the nation’s vulnerable groups, should dare impede steps at improving their lives?
Let those who have been threatening a repetition of their anti-development actions, be reminded that the national budgets have continued to benefit people, because they are about their well-being. Therefore, any attempt at further cuts, constitutes a crime against the people of this nation.

extracted from the Guyanachronicle