President vows to restore cuts to national budget

- reiterates consultation with Parliamentary Opposition not excluded

By Sharmain Grainger, May 2, 2013, By KNews, Filed Under News, Source

“The cuts that were made in Parliament, I will do every single thing possible to reverse them because I will not allow them to affect the people of our country,” was the assurance of Head of State, Donald Ramotar, yesterday.

He was delivering the feature address at the National Park, the venue of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) May Day rally.

President Donald Ramotar delivers a passionate address at the National Park venued FITUG May Day Rally yesterday.

The announcement evoked applause from the gathering of workers who mainly occupied the western stand of the facility.

According to the President, his plan to restore the cuts made to the budget will certainly not exclude moves to consult with the Parliamentary Opposition. “I hope that they will remove the prejudices from their minds and see these projects for what they are.”

He said that the Opposition has, overtime, made the accusation that Government has not been consulting with it “but I have personally invited them to talk…about anyone of the projects that they have difficulties with…that is still my attitude, that is still my position and I am ready to discuss all of these things and answer their questions.”

But according to the President some of the arguments that have been levelled by the Parliamentary Opposition to impose cuts to the 2013 National Budget are in fact difficult to understand. He alluded to cuts to the Amaila Falls Hydro project.

He pointed to the fact that one political party premised the cut on the need to wait for a promised loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).  “Well that really is an argument that doesn’t hold water because the budget in itself…all the money we plan to collect we haven’t collected as yet…that is a budget it doesn’t mean that you have all the resources.

“It means therefore if you use that logic then you should throw the whole budget out until we collect all the money…obviously it makes no sense.”

The Head of State further speculated that the $31 billion that was slashed from the budget from various important projects seems to be a move that has “other motives behind it. Why would anyone want to cut when we know that one of the impediments to the development of this country is cheap energy?” He acknowledged that the existing energy cost is high.

Moreover, he disclosed that efforts were being made through the national budget to invest in the electricity sector in order to remove a very recognisable obstruction to development in the Guyanese society.

He said that the intent of his Government is to significantly reduce the cost of electricity aided by hydro power electricity even as an atmosphere is created to develop good and strong manufacturing and processing sectors.

This move, he insisted, will also cater to the creation of thousands of jobs in order to move the country from being a middle-low income territory to one that is recognised as high-middle income with a developed status in the future.

“Why would anyone want to cut a programme like that, baffles the hell out of me,” vocalised the President as he turned his attention to cuts to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion project.  This particular project, the President noted, has the potential to bring life to a tourism sector.

He alluded to Guyana’s strategic location as a “perfect hub” for travel between the northern and southern hemispheres, even as he added that moves towards the expansion can undoubtedly “earn us a lot of money.”
According to the President, in 1994 during a visit to South Africa, he himself had spoken with officials there of the possibility of having Guyana become that crucial hub; a notion that was embraced.

“We couldn’t take the offer because the planes that they were using were too big for the airports that we have here; all of that we are now trying to correct to earn us more money…

“What reason, what logic can anyone have to cut such a project?” queried President Ramotar. “I will use all of my energy to ensure that these things are restored in our budget.”

President Ramotar added yesterday that the various projects to which the Opposition has imposed cuts are in fact the launching pads to take Guyana into the future while at the same time boosting development.

Among these projects, he noted, is the Specialty Hospital which has the potential of helping, mainly the poor members of the population, to defy untimely deaths caused by preventable health conditions. “A lot of the services that we have to go abroad to get we want to make it affordable so that the people in this country can have those facilities right here. Moreover we see it as a revenue stream because we can develop Health Tourism in Guyana.”

In fact the President disclosed that Jamaica is currently embarking on a similar project also with the aim of attracting more tourists.  Jamaica, like Guyana, has a large Diaspora abroad, observed Ramotar, who noted that many who have migrated do not have health insurance. Moreover, he noted that “they can come here to do some of the things that are needed.

Those who have been living (abroad) long enough want to retire but want the health facilities for them to stay in our country…all of these things have logic, all have been based on our national interest to ensure that every section of our society, particularly the working people, will have the benefits of what we produce in Guyana,” asserted the President.