PPP refuses to consult with Gov’t on 2016 budget

…unless specific conditions are met
Guyana’s parliamentary opposition, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), has said that it recently

PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee

rejected an invitation by the government to consult on the 2016 budget, until a number of outstanding issues are addressed.
This is according to General Secretary of the party, Clement Rohee, during a press conference at Freedom House, yesterday. He said that on November 24, he and a delegation were invited by Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, via letter, to meet on Friday, November 27.
“(The purpose was) for what he described as a meeting (for the) exchange of views and ideas on how best to shape the 2016 budget,” Rohee said, “(in order) that it touches the lives of all Guyanese. And he (Jordan) concluded by saying that we should prepare a paper to have a guided discussion.”
Rohee said that a reply was sent to Jordan, making it clear that the party would not proceed with any budget discussion unless certain information is provided by the Government, as the discussion would not be “meaningful” otherwise.
“If you are asking us to prepare something to engage in a discussion with you, we need to be prepared,” the General Secretary said. “So we made a request for the Commission of Inquiry report into GUYSUCO (Guyana Sugar Corporation).”
Rohee related that the party also requested the government’s five-year public sector investment programme, the latest Bank of Guyana report statistical bulletin, the submissions made by the ten administrative regions to the Ministry of Finance and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) article four strategy reports.
The General Secretary added that the party had requested the income, expenditure and revenue statements from the government from the end of October 2015 and projections to the end of the year.
Rohee also called for the release of copies of the Government of Guyana sector strategy reports, dealing with rice, sugar, Information Communications Technology (ICT), mining, quarrying, education, health and tourism.

Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan

According to Rohee, these background documents would ensure that the PPP would be ready for  “meaningful discussions”.
Rohee also revealed that in the correspondence to Jordan, the party had also suggested some agenda items for any proposed meeting.  These agenda items included the reduction in corporate tax, the nine-point plan for the rice industry, the Public Procurement Commission and reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT).
“That was sent November 26,” Rohee said, regarding the party’s reply. “We are yet to get a response from the distinguished Minister.”
Jordan had indicated earlier in November that government would welcome discussions with the PPP, provided the ideas presented by the party are viable and within the government’s agenda. Jordan had also expressed hopes that this time around budget talks would be fruitful and less confrontational.
The two sides have a rocky history when it comes to budget discussions, as according to Jordan, the 2015 budget discussions were dominated by Rohee accusing the government of “witch-hunting”.
Jordan had also stated that in his interactions with the opposition at the time of the one on one discussion, the party had put forward no new proposals for the 2015 budget.
“My door is always open,” Jordan said last month. “The outcome of discussions on the 2015 budget was indeed disappointing. But I have high hopes that it would be better, because the opposition is now constituted in a parliamentary sense.”
The party spokesperson on finance and head of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Irfaan Ali, has already indicated that, as the government has paid scant regard to the nine point rice plan, it could be seen as an indicator of how government would treat PPP recommendations.
President David Granger recently said, during a recent interview on the Ministry of the Presidency’s Public Interest forum that Government is likely to spend big on several projects. He had also indicated that these projects will be provided for in the 2016 budget, with the estimates being ready by early January.
It is understood that among the projects that Government will be eyeing in 2016 are the Del Conte road project, linking Parika on the East Bank of Essequibo (EBE) with Goshen. It is a project that is expected to provide increased access to mining communities such as Bartica.