OVERCOME THE SHAMEFUL PNC/APNU LEGACY:
Working together to overcome a shameful legacy
Written by Dr. LESLIE RAMSAMMY, Minister of Health
Friday, 28 October 2011 02:47
GUYANA today stands proud as a country that did not allow almost three decades of physical destruction, fiscal and economic disaster, dictatorship and human indignities to keep it down. Today, our country and our people are on the move and on the rise, coming together in unity, reversing the ethnic polarization of our people and communities that characterized our country before 1992.
We are rebuilding and modernizing our country, building new infrastructure. Guyana is the fastest growing and most diversified economy in the Caribbean today, transforming our economy from a least developing, bankrupt country to a middle income country with a foreign reserve that is almost US$1B today.
THE POST-INDEPENDENCE DESPAIR
Yet we had to overcome a legacy of shame to arrive at this stage. After stealing our democracy and stomping on our rights, the PNC-led Government ruled with might and left a trail of sheer destruction and indignities for our people.
The legacy of the PNC between 1964 and 1992 is not only sad, it is shameful. What is even more shameful and disgraceful is that those in charge and their apologists are trying to re-write history and denying the truth. Just consider some aspects of this legacy and the indignities they left behind and which we, together as a Nation, had to overcome.
1. In 1992, Guyana was the poorest country in the hemisphere, with a GDP that was only about US$250 per capita and smaller than it was in 1964. Indeed, Guyana was one of a group consisting of very few countries which had seen their GDP shrunk after gaining independence.
2. In 1992, Guyana was one of the most indebted nation on earth, with a debt of more than US$2.1B. That amounted to a foreign debt of almost US$3,000 for every man, every woman and every child in our country when people were earning wages of about US$15 per month.
3. Our debt was 750% of GDP in 1992. Consider that Americans today agonized that their country is being burdened with a debt that they will not be able to overcome and their debt today is 100% of their GDP. This would make us understand what a colossal burden the Guyanese people, already poor, were being asked to carry. It was an albatross that only a miracle could overcome.
4. Guyana had to use 94% of its revenues to service debt in 1992, the worst in the Caribbean and one of the worst in the world. Guyana, therefore, was in the invidious position servicing the debt, but not being able to meet its everyday operational budget, including paying salaries or defaulting on its debt payments. In short, the country was bankrupt.
5. Our water and sanitation system was the worst in the hemisphere, with only Haiti behind us in 1992.
6. Social sector investment had been reduced to about 7% of the budget, the worst in the Caribbean.
7. Our education system had fallen to last place in the Caribbean by 1992.
8. Our health system deteriorated from among the best in the Caribbean to the worst by 1992.
9. Interest rates for business purposes and mortgage rates were by far the worst in the Region, amounting to between 32 and 40% by 1992.
10. Our currency had deteriorated against the US dollar, deteriorating from about $2 to US$1 in the 1960s to $120 per US$1 by 1992, among the worst currency deterioration in the world at the time.The inflation rate was the worst in the Caribbean in 1992.
11. Our physical infrastructure was the worst in the hemisphere, with the exception of Haiti by 1992. All of our highways were in a state of disrepair. Every bridge was in need of replacement and our sea transport system had collapsed. Every ferry boat and every stelling was in a state of total disrepair.
12. Guyana had the worst airport in the Caribbean in 1992. Indeed, Guyanese living here or abroad were absolutely ashamed of the dilapidated and outmoded airport that served our people.
13. In 1992, Guyana was the only country in CARICOM and one of only a handful of countries in the Americas without a democratically elected government.
14. Our public servants were the worst paid in the Caribbean or anywhere in the Americas.
RISING FROM THE ASHES OF THE PAST
Overcoming this legacy would have been a major challenge for any country. The PPP/C took a bankrupt country with a dilapidated and run down infrastructure, a country whose economy was in shambles, with a debt payment beyond its reach and has transformed it. Today, our economy is considered the fastest growing economy in the Caribbean. Our GDP has grown significantly, with growth occurring in 15 of the last 19 years, and averaging almost 5% annually in the last five years.
From a total GDP of US$274M in 1991, Guyana’s GDP in 2010 was US$2.3B, an increase of almost 9 times. Per capita income has risen from about US$250 in 1991 to about US$2,600 in 2010. Few countries can match this achievement over the same period.
The growth in the economy can be seen in other indicators.For example, between 1992 and 2010, the total assets in commercial banks have risen from $25B to $296B, total credits for the private sector rose from $7B to $112B and interest rates decreased from more than 35% to under 12% and our external reserve grew from almost zero to almost US$800M.
Our debt has been considerably reduced from US$2.1 in 1992 and today stands at about US$800M.
The debt stock is only about 47% of GDP, the best in the Caribbean and far better than the U.S. and most European countries. Our debt servicing today consumes only 4% of our revenue, leaving Guyana in a position to invest in its infrastructure; improve health; education; water; housing, and meet other social welfare needs of the people.
The PPP/C has reconstructed Guyana’s infrastructure, built new ones and modernize Guyana. Guyana’s public capital budget has risen from $4.3B in 1992 to $47B in 2010. The truth is that the PNC spent less than $40B in its entire 28 years on capital investment and the PPP/C has spent more than $600B in less than 20 years.
The result is that there is a visible transformation of our physical infrastructure that can be seen through bridges like the Berbice River, Mahicony, Mahaica and the Takatu River bridges and hundreds of smaller bridges, all major highways, major internal and community roads and our airports. People today marvel at our transformation and we have moved from a backward infrastructure to one that is rapidly catching up to other CARICOM countries.
Electricity and telecommunications are critical areas for satisfying a high standard of living and supporting economic development.
The PPP/C Government has increased generation of electricity from a mere 85MW in 1992 to almost 170MW today and this will be more than doubled when the Amaila Falls hydroelectricity plant is commissioned in 2014. In addition, we have reduced electricity line losses from more than 50% in 1992 to less than 30% today.
Blackouts have been significantly reduced, although we have not been able to eliminate them. Almost 50,000 additional families today enjoy electricity because of the extension of services to many communities that were unserved before 1992. Many hinterland communities for whom electricity under the PNC Government before 1992 seemed an impossible dream are today enjoying electricity.
There has been a total metamorphosis in telecommunications. Today, almost all families have access to either land line or cell phone services and the internet has made a remarkable penetration into communities across Guyana.
The telecommunication infrastructure has been revolutionized and fibre optic technology is now a significant part of the infrastructure, enabling rapid pace transmission of data and establishment of call centres, and enabling the pursuit of ICT as a critical enabler and part of providing education and training and creating a new economic front.
Sugar which had virtually collapsed under the PNC, today has been stabilized and diversified with major improvement in physical and technological capacity and is ready to take its place again as an economic giant in Guyana and the Caribbean.
We have transformed the sugar industry from a mainly agricultural enterprise to a truly industrialized enterprise with value-added products, packaging plants, production of bagasse-based electricity and poised for the production of ethanol.
While the road to recovery was tough, sugar recovered and is the only sugar industry in the Caribbean today with a bright future. In spite of many critics, mainly the opposition parties like the APNU and the AFC, calling for a scaling down and closure of the sugar industry, the PPP/C has invested to ensure the sugar industry survives, grows and continues to be a bulwark of the economy.
With an estimated production of 400,000 tons for 2011, the rice industry is setting another new production record for Guyana. The PPP/C Government has ensured better drainage and irrigation as an enabler to open up more land for rice cultivation on the coast, but has extended rice production to areas never ever planned before, such as in Region 9.
In addition, our other crop production has not only increased production, but export has increased phenomenally. We have made agriculture feasible in all ten Regions and diversified crop selection to include citrus, ginger, soya beans, spices, etc. Fishing in shallow waters and deep waters continue to grow as an economic enterprise and aqua-culture is now a bright spot in our economic diversification and Grow More Food Campaign.
Livestock production has grown phenomenally, after it virtually disappeared during the PNC years. Guyana has been transformed from the “basket” case of the Caribbean to the “bread basket” of the Caribbean.
The mining industry continues to grow and is making a huge contribution to the GDP. After the collapse of bauxite and the total closing down of manganese mining under the PNC and only marginal contribution by gold and diamond, there is now robust growth of the mining industry.
Gold and diamond production continues to reach levels during the PPP/C administration never reached at any time under the PNC. Manganese mining has resumed and the bauxite industry has been resuscitated. Sand and quarry production have dramatically expanded.
Our investment in the social sector today is more than 35% of the budget (compared to less than 10% in 1992), the best in the Caribbean, investing in making lives better in our country. It is investment like this that has resulted in our education and health systems being able to compete again within the Caribbean.
In 2011, we are investing $22B in education, increasing from $1B in 1991. We see the results of this dramatic increase in investment for education today. Not only have our students been performing better today at CXC, but Guyana has produced the top CXC performer in the Caribbean frequently in the last decade, including five out of the last six years.
We have produced the top CXC science performer in the last six years. Similarly, we are outperforming the rest of the Caribbean in business and ICT. We have improved overall passes at CXC (Grades 1 to 3) from a mere 22% in 1992 to more than 64% today. Because we have improved access, more students are writing CXC today, increasing from about 5,000 in 1992 to more than 12,000 today and the number of subject entries has increased from 20,000 in 1992 to 71,000 today. This was unimaginable before 1992, when consistently and persistently Guyana ranked last at CXC in the Caribbean.
In 1992, less than 30% of our teachers were trained, compared to 75% today. Our country could have only guaranteed 33% of our children a place in high school before 1992. Today, 87% of our children have access to high school. Worst, only 8% of our children had access to nursery schools in 1992, compared with about 50% today.
In 1992, technical education was only available through technical institutes in Georgetown and New Amsterdam. Today, technical education has been extended through new schools in Corriverton, Anna Regina, Linden and more new schools are presently being completed in Leonora and Mahaicony.
More students are going to UG and many more are becoming professionals through international scholarships. Education at all levels is reaching Guyanese children and adults everywhere.
Similarly, impressive results have been seen in health, housing and water. Guyana’s life expectancy which stagnated at 61 between 1964 and 1992 has risen from 61 to 71 years today. Child mortality rates have fallen from more than 120 in 1992 to less than 20 per 1,000 annually today.
Maternal mortality which was 32 per 10,000 pregnancies in 1992 has fallen to under 12 today. More than 75% of Guyanese families today own their own homes, one of the highest in the Caribbean and we have distributed more than 100,000 house lots. Potable water is accessible to more than 90% of the population, with treated water available to almost 50% of the population, among the best in the Caribbean.
This is a proud record. Post independence was a disappointment for the Guyanese people. Our dreams of being in control of our destiny were shattered. But instead of giving up, we struggled for freedom and we undertook the task of reclaiming our dreams and pursuing them together in unity.
The legacy of shame has been replaced by hope and a visible transformation of our country. Rather than be battered by shame, Guyana today is a country on the move, on the rise. We epitomize the words from one of our National Songs: Glorious triumphant from the ashes of the past. I am proud of being a Guyanese
.
Working together to overcome a shameful legacy
Written by Dr. LESLIE RAMSAMMY, Minister of Health
Friday, 28 October 2011 02:47
GUYANA today stands proud as a country that did not allow almost three decades of physical destruction, fiscal and economic disaster, dictatorship and human indignities to keep it down. Today, our country and our people are on the move and on the rise, coming together in unity, reversing the ethnic polarization of our people and communities that characterized our country before 1992.We are rebuilding and modernizing our country, building new infrastructure. Guyana is the fastest growing and most diversified economy in the Caribbean today, transforming our economy from a least developing, bankrupt country to a middle income country with a foreign reserve that is almost US$1B today.
THE POST-INDEPENDENCE DESPAIR
Yet we had to overcome a legacy of shame to arrive at this stage. After stealing our democracy and stomping on our rights, the PNC-led Government ruled with might and left a trail of sheer destruction and indignities for our people.
The legacy of the PNC between 1964 and 1992 is not only sad, it is shameful. What is even more shameful and disgraceful is that those in charge and their apologists are trying to re-write history and denying the truth. Just consider some aspects of this legacy and the indignities they left behind and which we, together as a Nation, had to overcome.
1. In 1992, Guyana was the poorest country in the hemisphere, with a GDP that was only about US$250 per capita and smaller than it was in 1964. Indeed, Guyana was one of a group consisting of very few countries which had seen their GDP shrunk after gaining independence.
2. In 1992, Guyana was one of the most indebted nation on earth, with a debt of more than US$2.1B. That amounted to a foreign debt of almost US$3,000 for every man, every woman and every child in our country when people were earning wages of about US$15 per month.
3. Our debt was 750% of GDP in 1992. Consider that Americans today agonized that their country is being burdened with a debt that they will not be able to overcome and their debt today is 100% of their GDP. This would make us understand what a colossal burden the Guyanese people, already poor, were being asked to carry. It was an albatross that only a miracle could overcome.
4. Guyana had to use 94% of its revenues to service debt in 1992, the worst in the Caribbean and one of the worst in the world. Guyana, therefore, was in the invidious position servicing the debt, but not being able to meet its everyday operational budget, including paying salaries or defaulting on its debt payments. In short, the country was bankrupt.
5. Our water and sanitation system was the worst in the hemisphere, with only Haiti behind us in 1992.
6. Social sector investment had been reduced to about 7% of the budget, the worst in the Caribbean.
7. Our education system had fallen to last place in the Caribbean by 1992.
8. Our health system deteriorated from among the best in the Caribbean to the worst by 1992.
9. Interest rates for business purposes and mortgage rates were by far the worst in the Region, amounting to between 32 and 40% by 1992.
10. Our currency had deteriorated against the US dollar, deteriorating from about $2 to US$1 in the 1960s to $120 per US$1 by 1992, among the worst currency deterioration in the world at the time.The inflation rate was the worst in the Caribbean in 1992.
11. Our physical infrastructure was the worst in the hemisphere, with the exception of Haiti by 1992. All of our highways were in a state of disrepair. Every bridge was in need of replacement and our sea transport system had collapsed. Every ferry boat and every stelling was in a state of total disrepair.
12. Guyana had the worst airport in the Caribbean in 1992. Indeed, Guyanese living here or abroad were absolutely ashamed of the dilapidated and outmoded airport that served our people.
13. In 1992, Guyana was the only country in CARICOM and one of only a handful of countries in the Americas without a democratically elected government.
14. Our public servants were the worst paid in the Caribbean or anywhere in the Americas.
RISING FROM THE ASHES OF THE PAST
Overcoming this legacy would have been a major challenge for any country. The PPP/C took a bankrupt country with a dilapidated and run down infrastructure, a country whose economy was in shambles, with a debt payment beyond its reach and has transformed it. Today, our economy is considered the fastest growing economy in the Caribbean. Our GDP has grown significantly, with growth occurring in 15 of the last 19 years, and averaging almost 5% annually in the last five years.
From a total GDP of US$274M in 1991, Guyana’s GDP in 2010 was US$2.3B, an increase of almost 9 times. Per capita income has risen from about US$250 in 1991 to about US$2,600 in 2010. Few countries can match this achievement over the same period.
The growth in the economy can be seen in other indicators.For example, between 1992 and 2010, the total assets in commercial banks have risen from $25B to $296B, total credits for the private sector rose from $7B to $112B and interest rates decreased from more than 35% to under 12% and our external reserve grew from almost zero to almost US$800M.
Our debt has been considerably reduced from US$2.1 in 1992 and today stands at about US$800M.
The debt stock is only about 47% of GDP, the best in the Caribbean and far better than the U.S. and most European countries. Our debt servicing today consumes only 4% of our revenue, leaving Guyana in a position to invest in its infrastructure; improve health; education; water; housing, and meet other social welfare needs of the people.
The PPP/C has reconstructed Guyana’s infrastructure, built new ones and modernize Guyana. Guyana’s public capital budget has risen from $4.3B in 1992 to $47B in 2010. The truth is that the PNC spent less than $40B in its entire 28 years on capital investment and the PPP/C has spent more than $600B in less than 20 years.
The result is that there is a visible transformation of our physical infrastructure that can be seen through bridges like the Berbice River, Mahicony, Mahaica and the Takatu River bridges and hundreds of smaller bridges, all major highways, major internal and community roads and our airports. People today marvel at our transformation and we have moved from a backward infrastructure to one that is rapidly catching up to other CARICOM countries.
Electricity and telecommunications are critical areas for satisfying a high standard of living and supporting economic development.
The PPP/C Government has increased generation of electricity from a mere 85MW in 1992 to almost 170MW today and this will be more than doubled when the Amaila Falls hydroelectricity plant is commissioned in 2014. In addition, we have reduced electricity line losses from more than 50% in 1992 to less than 30% today.
Blackouts have been significantly reduced, although we have not been able to eliminate them. Almost 50,000 additional families today enjoy electricity because of the extension of services to many communities that were unserved before 1992. Many hinterland communities for whom electricity under the PNC Government before 1992 seemed an impossible dream are today enjoying electricity.
There has been a total metamorphosis in telecommunications. Today, almost all families have access to either land line or cell phone services and the internet has made a remarkable penetration into communities across Guyana.
The telecommunication infrastructure has been revolutionized and fibre optic technology is now a significant part of the infrastructure, enabling rapid pace transmission of data and establishment of call centres, and enabling the pursuit of ICT as a critical enabler and part of providing education and training and creating a new economic front.
Sugar which had virtually collapsed under the PNC, today has been stabilized and diversified with major improvement in physical and technological capacity and is ready to take its place again as an economic giant in Guyana and the Caribbean.
We have transformed the sugar industry from a mainly agricultural enterprise to a truly industrialized enterprise with value-added products, packaging plants, production of bagasse-based electricity and poised for the production of ethanol.
While the road to recovery was tough, sugar recovered and is the only sugar industry in the Caribbean today with a bright future. In spite of many critics, mainly the opposition parties like the APNU and the AFC, calling for a scaling down and closure of the sugar industry, the PPP/C has invested to ensure the sugar industry survives, grows and continues to be a bulwark of the economy.
With an estimated production of 400,000 tons for 2011, the rice industry is setting another new production record for Guyana. The PPP/C Government has ensured better drainage and irrigation as an enabler to open up more land for rice cultivation on the coast, but has extended rice production to areas never ever planned before, such as in Region 9.
In addition, our other crop production has not only increased production, but export has increased phenomenally. We have made agriculture feasible in all ten Regions and diversified crop selection to include citrus, ginger, soya beans, spices, etc. Fishing in shallow waters and deep waters continue to grow as an economic enterprise and aqua-culture is now a bright spot in our economic diversification and Grow More Food Campaign.
Livestock production has grown phenomenally, after it virtually disappeared during the PNC years. Guyana has been transformed from the “basket” case of the Caribbean to the “bread basket” of the Caribbean.
The mining industry continues to grow and is making a huge contribution to the GDP. After the collapse of bauxite and the total closing down of manganese mining under the PNC and only marginal contribution by gold and diamond, there is now robust growth of the mining industry.
Gold and diamond production continues to reach levels during the PPP/C administration never reached at any time under the PNC. Manganese mining has resumed and the bauxite industry has been resuscitated. Sand and quarry production have dramatically expanded.
Our investment in the social sector today is more than 35% of the budget (compared to less than 10% in 1992), the best in the Caribbean, investing in making lives better in our country. It is investment like this that has resulted in our education and health systems being able to compete again within the Caribbean.
In 2011, we are investing $22B in education, increasing from $1B in 1991. We see the results of this dramatic increase in investment for education today. Not only have our students been performing better today at CXC, but Guyana has produced the top CXC performer in the Caribbean frequently in the last decade, including five out of the last six years.
We have produced the top CXC science performer in the last six years. Similarly, we are outperforming the rest of the Caribbean in business and ICT. We have improved overall passes at CXC (Grades 1 to 3) from a mere 22% in 1992 to more than 64% today. Because we have improved access, more students are writing CXC today, increasing from about 5,000 in 1992 to more than 12,000 today and the number of subject entries has increased from 20,000 in 1992 to 71,000 today. This was unimaginable before 1992, when consistently and persistently Guyana ranked last at CXC in the Caribbean.
In 1992, less than 30% of our teachers were trained, compared to 75% today. Our country could have only guaranteed 33% of our children a place in high school before 1992. Today, 87% of our children have access to high school. Worst, only 8% of our children had access to nursery schools in 1992, compared with about 50% today.
In 1992, technical education was only available through technical institutes in Georgetown and New Amsterdam. Today, technical education has been extended through new schools in Corriverton, Anna Regina, Linden and more new schools are presently being completed in Leonora and Mahaicony.
More students are going to UG and many more are becoming professionals through international scholarships. Education at all levels is reaching Guyanese children and adults everywhere.
Similarly, impressive results have been seen in health, housing and water. Guyana’s life expectancy which stagnated at 61 between 1964 and 1992 has risen from 61 to 71 years today. Child mortality rates have fallen from more than 120 in 1992 to less than 20 per 1,000 annually today.
Maternal mortality which was 32 per 10,000 pregnancies in 1992 has fallen to under 12 today. More than 75% of Guyanese families today own their own homes, one of the highest in the Caribbean and we have distributed more than 100,000 house lots. Potable water is accessible to more than 90% of the population, with treated water available to almost 50% of the population, among the best in the Caribbean.
This is a proud record. Post independence was a disappointment for the Guyanese people. Our dreams of being in control of our destiny were shattered. But instead of giving up, we struggled for freedom and we undertook the task of reclaiming our dreams and pursuing them together in unity.
The legacy of shame has been replaced by hope and a visible transformation of our country. Rather than be battered by shame, Guyana today is a country on the move, on the rise. We epitomize the words from one of our National Songs: Glorious triumphant from the ashes of the past. I am proud of being a Guyanese
.
