Django, don't believe everything you hear and read about. Patterson is a dishonest man.

Guyana’s finances have returned to incorruptible hands – Minister Benn

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn

When the debates on the country’s largest budget ever continued in the National Assembly on Thursday, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn declared that the country’s finances are once again in “safe, reliable and incorruptible” hands with the return of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) Government.

He boasted that every time Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh brings a budget to the House, it has always been “bigger and better”, while calling out Singh’s predecessor, Winston Jordan, for leaving the country’s finances in a catastrophic state.

The Home Affairs Minister said Jordan has earned the “unenviable reputation” of being the only minister in the western hemisphere who has overseen the deliberate dismantling of a vibrant economy within the shortest possible time.

“No earthquake, no flood, no tsunami, no volcanic eruption was required; or even a war was required to bring our country and its finances to the state that we [PPP] met when we return to power…,” Benn related.

According to him, the APNU-AFC failed “to do the right thing” for the economy during its time in office. To this end, he pointed out that it is no surprise that the actions of Jordan are being investigated by the Special Organised Crime Unit.

Minister Benn said good management of Guyana’s revenue is needed now more than ever with the advent of the oil and gas sector. He noted that the $552.9B fiscal plan is invaluable in terms of the data, intervention, and measures it contains.

Beyond the implementation of negative and regressive taxes, Benn recalled, the former APNU-AFC Government closed several sugar estates, and trapped investments in the forest, rice, bauxite, and other minerals sector.

He pointed out that the Coalition did so to the detriment of the economy as well as the social and economic well-being of thousands of Guyanese of every race, ethnicity, and social and economic status.

“The sugar industry in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) was devasted by the APNU-AFC…seven thousand workers went home without a daily bread, and multiply that by four or five families… and we will understand why Region Six has seen the least improvement in terms of security,” Minister Benn added.

Against this background, he said, there is a link between crime and poverty, while adding that it is a sad state of affairs when the APNU+AFC cannot link the growing of marijuana in the region to its dismantling of the sugar industry.

Further, he reminded that the previous Government supported the blockage of the Berbice River to prevent the bauxite ships from coming down. As a result of this, he said, some one thousand workers were sent home without a job.

Considering all of this, Benn made it clear that the Opposition is in no position to lecture the PPP on how to run the country, and speak of how bad the party is on proposing measures to change the situation it found on assuming office.

Benn went on to rebuke the Opposition Parliamentarians for their poor budget presentations, adding that they are continuing to make “exhibits of themselves”. Moreover, he reminded the APNU+AFC of its attempts to rig the 2020 national elections and, most recently, of its efforts to steal the Speaker’s Mace.

Reflecting on the latter, he said, “They did it live, direct, virtually in the face of a national and international audience, to the disgrace of our country.”

He added that the Opposition members have no decorum, and stated that all they come to the National Assembly to do is skin their teeth and catcall.

“…but the reason that they behave like this, Mr. Speaker, is that they are all essentially joined up in the PNCR, and the PNCR has had a history of violence… This is the way they behave; they cannot change, it’s in their DNA,” he posited.

“…violence, insults, vulgarity that is what you represent in the floor of this House for our country,” said Benn to the Opposition members.

In taking the country forward as an oil-producing nation and in unity, Benn said, the PPP would ensure that the APNU-AFC never comes back into power. His statement was, however, met with much heckling from the Opposite side.

The Home Affairs Minister told the House that it was the PPP that pursued the eventual discovery of oil during a time when there was much skepticism, division, and laughter from the PNCR.

“President Janet Jagan, as the Minister of Petroleum, determined and signed the first exploration agreement…the PNCR was busy on Vlissengen Road ‘wukking pun she’ and ramping up illegal protests…”

According to him, this led to political riots, murders and mayhem over all of Guyana, with tragic results which led to less development in the country. But despite all the efforts to the contrary, he noted, oil was discovered in 2015 under the Donald Ramotar PPP Government and was labelled an election gimmick by the APNU-AFC.

“Leave that wreck of a party. You still have time to depart from them and make a good, positive contribution to our country,” Benn said as he urged the young APNU+AFC Parliamentarians to leave the Coalition.

PPP allocated more house lots in one year than Coalition issued in five years – Minister Rodrigues

Junior Housing and Water Minister, Susan Rodrigues said that her government managed to distribute more house lots in one year than the number of allocations conducted by the former APNU+AFC regime during 2015 and 2020. Minister Rodrigues was at the time making her contribution to the national budget debate during the 40th sitting of the Twelfth Parliament.

Minister Rodrigues said when the government took office in August 2020, it met a backlog of 70,000 applications, coupled with low occupancy in housing schemes where infrastructure was lacking.

She said that the housing sector today, has been revitalised. This saw the government surpassing the coalition’s just over 7,000 house lot allocation during their tenure, in just one year.

“To date, we have already accomplished all of the housing commitments listed in our manifesto, including the allocation of 10,000 house lots and out of that 3,926 went to women,” she said.

Minister Rodrigues attributed the growth in the construction and manufacturing sector and the increase production of sand in 2021, to the government’s robust housing and infrastructure programmes, noting that these are as a result of careful planning and implementation of the government’s policies.

“The growth in the construction sector in 2021 is directly co-related to our infrastructure programmes and our housing programme. The $5 billion increase in real estate loans issued by commercial banks is directly co-related to our policy; increase in mortgage ceilings and mortgage interest relief. These direct results are because of careful state planning and prudent management of the economy,” Minister Rodrigues pointed out.

The $552.9 billion budget, the minister said, was carefully crafted and aligns with the PPP/C’s manifesto and vision for Guyana.

“Our government has managed to find the fiscal space…that term fiscal space came from the former minister of finance, when he said he couldn’t find the fiscal space to continue the cash grant for the school. We have managed to find the fiscal space to present the largest budget without introducing any new taxes.”

This year, the sum of $12.4 billion has been allocated for continued infrastructural development works in housing schemes. This will see a number of allottees being able to access their lands to begin constructing their homes. (Extracted and modified by the Department of Public Information)

Mr. DG,  don't you agree that the Madam Minister is very  aesthetically pleasing on the eyes?

@Mitwah posted:

Mr. DG,  don't you agree that the Madam Minister is very  aesthetically pleasing on the eyes?

Indeed indeed Mitwah ... 

Very pleasing to the eyes ... plus extremely efficient in her office to serve Guyanese and Guyana.

Well...true. PPP is tek 80% and dem AFC/PNC boys is take 20% and lil bangle. PPP getting dem private sector boys bassidy with money and contracts. Trenchie watching and observing how this will end up .