Stop blocking development, put Guyana first
– finance minister urges opposition
The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) are on a consorted campaign to derail progress and development in Guyana,
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said in a recent interview.
“The APNU and the AFC have repeatedly demonstrated their ruthless attempt to stymie any developmental project that this government has attempted to undertake for cheap political mileage,” said the minister.
Minister Singh was at the time making reference to a recent article in the Kaieteur News in which leader of the main opposition David Granger called “all major projects flawed”.
Objection of programmes by the opposition have included the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project, One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) Programme, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Expansion Project and the Marriott Hotel Project.
Real issues
“The AFC and the APNU are not interested in seeing this country move forward, or to bringing real issues of concern to the table, they are simply using these projects for cheap political gain while taking the lives of hardworking Guyanese for granted,” he noted.
“The livelihood of the farmer who wants to start a small-scale pasteurising plant is now jeopardised because the opposition killed the Amaila hydropower project,” Minister Singh said. “That farmer has now been denied his right to improve his, and his family’s economic livelihood, by the opposition.”
The minister stressed developed and developing countries around the world have undertaken projects that are aimed at bolstering investor confidence in the market place and to kick-start projects that will have positive residual effects on the country.
“APNU and AFC’s aversion to developmental projects have been wildly inconsistent, yet a look at other developing and developed countries from around the world indicates that the government of Guyana is not unique in investing in hotels, power stations or agricultural infrastructure,” explained the minister.
Countries in the region that have been cited for taking risk ininvesting monies into large scale projects with the intent to have a financial turn over in the long run includesTrinidad, Jamaica and Barbados.
In Trinidad, the government invested in the Hyatt Hotel, a 428-room hotel that opened its doors in 2008.
The Jamaican government invested in the Sandals Whitehouse All Inclusive Resort, of which it owns 67 per cent of the assets. It also invested in a project called Harmony Cove Development. That project was conceptualised in the early 2000 by that government for 2300 acres of beach front property that now includes 4500 hotel rooms, 500 residential units, nightclubs, golf courses, a marina and other entertainment facilities.
These developmental projects, Minister Singh argues resulted in encouraging private investment, created sustainable jobs, and created tax revenue to the benefit of the respective countries.
Private/public partnerships
Extra regionally, other developing countries such as, China, Malaysia and the Philippians have supported public/ private partnerships having seen the long term benefits it has on the development of their respective countries.
“Public/private partnerships enables government to share costs, risks and the responsibility of large scale projects with private investors,” explained Minister Singh. “These partnerships help us to meet the high demand for financing as a developing nation with limited financial resources.”
“If the opposition was so concerned about the configuration of these projects, they would have engaged us at any of the multiple forums facilitated by government to correct these so called ‘flawed’ projects,” Minister Singh concluded. “We have made numerous attempts to involve the joint opposition as we strive to be transparent and all inclusive. What more can we do that has not been done within the parameters of the law?”
Government has in the past released information stating the dates when closed door consultations were held with the opposition in their effort to involve all parties, but expressed concern that the joint opposition did not participate in any of them. This is in relation to the Amaila Hydro Power Project and the development of the Marriott Hotel Project.
“In addition to having an open discussion with the joint opposition, we presented time and again information — confidential information – to the joint opposition and then we read in some sections of the media that there is something sinister and clandestine at play,” Minister Singh said. “We have even seen sensitive, confidential information we provided to the opposition in the media!”
Cheap political points
The minister chided the joint opposition for not being a responsible parliamentary opposition. “The APNU and the AFC should not stymie development and modernisation for cheap political points and tactics,” he said.
Minister Singh, however, alluded to the multiple benefits large scale projects such as the Amaila Hydro Power Project, the Marriott and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Expansion Project have, both long and short term benefits, including short term construction jobs and long term professional jobs.
“The best strategy for us as a developing country is to make long-term consistent investments over time, as we have been attempting to do,” noted Minister Singh. “If the opposition has a better strategy, why have they not presented these to the public?”
The minister concluded that the government has extended several invitations to the joint opposition to be included at the parliamentary level in developmental projects.
Those invitations have not been well received. He further expressed his concern that if the joint opposition continues to obstruct and derail developmental projects, the Guyanese people will feel the blunt of such decisions.
source:Guyanatimes