Increased allocation for controversial agencies an insult to National Assembly – Nagamootoo
Opposition Member of Parliament Moses Nagamootoo has accused the People’s Progressive Party Civic government of insulting the National Assembly by increasing allocations to a number of agencies that fell under the axe last year.
In a scathing attack on the minority administration during this year’s budget debate, Nagamootoo said that the 2013 budget was tailored to satisfy the “insatiable appetite of the parasitic and bureaucratic, class.”
Member of Parliament Moses Nagamootoo
“In defiance of this National Assembly, it has revised upwards and restored the cuts made for contracted employees, many of whom are the super-salaried, million and multi-million-dollar cats on sinecure employment. Last year, they got an additional $100 million. This year, government has upped the lottery for contracted employees to $7.8 billion. The number of PPP activists on Office of the President payroll has increased.”
He stated that “the defiance is compounded with insult, as cuts for the PPP propaganda machines – the Government Information Agency (GINA) and the National Communications Network (NCN) – have not only been restored, but increased!”
Last year the opposition with its one seat majority created a legal crisis when it slashed huge chunks from the national budget which was air marked to fund a number of government agencies that they felt were unfavourable to the opposition.
“A gauntlet of arrogance and defiance has been thrown into these hallowed halls of the National Assembly,” Nagamootoo declared.
“This type of reckless use of our people’s money has characterized all post-Jagan PPP governments. They have spent money as if it were cheap as “bussie” (rice husk),” he added.
According to Nagamootoo, in the past 13 years, the PPP Government proposed budget allocations amounting to $1,588,000,000,000. (Over one and a half trillion dollars).
“Assuming we have a dollar bill measuring 6 inches, and given that the circumference of our Earth is 1.6 billion inches (1,577,727,360 inches), the budget sums would dollar-on-dollar, wrap the circumference of the earth some 6,000 times (6,039 times),” he said.
“What have we to show for this colossal amount? Today, the PPP comes here and boasts that we are fixing old roads and building new ones; we are breaking old bridges and making new ones; we are scrapping the new airport and building a newer one; we are fixing our broken down sugar industry; we are fixing the failed electricity system. This PPP is a ‘we bruk am; we fix am’ government.”
Nagamootoo said that there is no doubt that Guyana’s growth rate has been positive over the past few years, averaging above four percent annually.
However this growth, he said, has not been miniscule to budgetary allocations over the years.
The former PPP/C member of parliament explained that in the past six years (2007 thru 2012), total budgetary allocations were $825B as compared with $471B in the previous six-year period (2001-2006).
“These allocations increased by $373 billion or by 126%. The least that could be expected was a reasonable return for the people’s monies and a 4% growth could, dollar for dollar, be a very modest, if not disappointing, return,” Nagamootoo said.
He said that this year, the government is asking for $208.8B, $85 billion of which would be for new projects, without addressing concerns of transparency and accountability.
He assured that his party, the Alliance For Change, is not against projects, but it is demanding that there be feasibility studies, to ascertain if these projects are the best alternative use for the country’s money.
“We have to ask the hard questions: Do we need a new airport costing $30 billion when only 12 years ago, we modernized the existing airport at a cost of $6 billion? Should our government not try to get reliable and affordable airline services before pouring billions into a new airport? With Delta going soon, air transport would be a nightmare. Price gouging has started. Even with a new airport, not having a viable aviation plan, Timehri will continue to be an airline cemetery – Universal, Travelspan, Red Jet, EZjet, and soon, Delta.”
According to Nagamootoo, it is evident that the post-Jagan PPP governments lack vision, proper planning, and have abandoned all claims to a really sustainable development strategy.
This government, he said, has plans that are eclectic, that shift and change, to suit prevailing opportunistic needs for enrichment of a few.
He said that while the government wants support for its spending spree it has failed to deal effectively with corruption.
For instance, he noted that the government has not addressed the vexed issues of putting surpluses from NICIL, Lotto & Wildlife Funds, and moneys from dead bank accounts, into the revenue stream.
He called for appointment of a Chairman of the Integrity Commission, and for the Secretariat to be fully staffed and equipped to conduct investigation into the assets of all office holders, and slammed a call by a government MP for the establishment of a code of conduct for ministers.
“Let us make public these assets. A code not enforceable in law cannot work! It’s a recipe for Cover Up!”
“We need to implement the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Terrorism Act, and to give teeth to the toothless poodle-style Intelligence Unit. Not a soul has been investigated, much less prosecuted, for money-laundering, and Guyana is wrongly being seen as a haven for money-launderers, drugs trafficking, etc.,” Nagamootoo stated emphatically.
