THE UNRULY HORSE
The 2015 Budget – a 2020 vision, or a lack thereof?
By: Mohabir Anil Nandlall, MP.
Attorney-at-Law
The Minister of Finance perambulates at page 15 of the Budget Speech that “…we are all tasked with realizing the common vision of a good life for all who live within our nation. Mr. Speaker, I now want to share with all Guyanese across the length and breadth of our 214,970 sq km, our vision of the Cooperative Republic in the year 2020”.
I examined the budget speech carefully to decipher this 2020 vision. I concluded that if that is the vision that the APNU + AFC have for Guyana, then as a nation, we will certainly stagnate over the next five years.
administration of justice and the legal sector
There is not a single sentence in the budget speech - a self professed vision for five years, dedicated to the administration of Justice, or the legal sector. Indeed, those words are not even mentioned in the speech. Experts all over the world have concluded there is a strong causal connection between economic development and an effectively functioning of legal system. The justice system is not even mentioned in this Government’s 2020 vision. It cannot be argued that it was an omission because in the estimates not a singular allocation is made for any new measure, initiative or project to be implement for the year 2015. The Lethem Magistrate’s Court and sub registry and the Family Court will soon be opened; the Deeds and Commercial Registry and the Land Registry will soon move portions of their operations to the former New Building Society Head Office at Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown; the Land Registry will soon move its operations into another new building at New Amsterdam. All of this will take place with much public fanfare, but these are all accomplishments of the PPP/C administration. However, no credit will be given. When this is over, nothing else is either planned or budgeted for the legal sector.
The Attorney General in his presentation compounds the problem by not alluding to a singular new measure for the legal sector. He was more obsessed with attempting to make clumsy criticisms of my stewardship. No legislative agenda is outlined; no mention of Legal Aid is made; but an unrealistic commitment is given, not to reduce, but to eliminate the backlog of cases in the judicial system. This commitment alone demonstrates the Attorney General’s failure to grasp the magnitude of the challenges facing the sector.
economics
Economically, the Minister of Finance said at page 15 “…over the next five years, we commit to the maintenance of macroeconomic stability by creating conditions to foster a positive growth trajectory while improving expenditure management and revenue administration, low inflation, stable exchange rate and sustainable debt”.
Very idealistic commitment, but after just 3 months in Government, the exact opposite is the reality: negative economic growth, increase inflation, the exchange rate has moved from G$206 to G$212 for US$1, there has been massive capital flight and the private sector confidence at its lowest in over a decade, nearly 4000 persons were dismissed from the public sector and over 2000 were laid off in the private sector because of negative downturn; no new investment identified.
Two of the largest productive sectors, sugar and rice, were allocated merely one paragraph each in this vision 2020. Regarding, sugar, the vision is “we anxiously await the Report of the Commission of Inquiry before deciding on the next steps” (p. 24). But this Commission of Inquiry has already telegraphed its finding. It is to sell out the industry. So that is, effectively, the vision of 2020 for sugar. The reason that will be advanced for selling the industry is that it is not profitable. So the sellers are already telling the buyers that the product that will be sold is no good but will still expect the buyer to buy. This is the mentality which characterizes this Government. In terms of rice, we are told that new markets have to be found. Every rice farmer knows this. The questions are, how, where and when. These are not answered in the 2020 vision.
Information, Communication and Technology are identified as the key sector to drive economic growth. The reality is that the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) Programme was scrapped by this Government. This Programme envisaged the distribution of over 90,000 computers throughout the country. 54,000 have already been distributed. It has been replaced with an initiative of 9,600 computers to be distributed to teachers and students. These 9,600 computers were already purchased by the PPP/C administration and are enroute from China.
governance and the rule of law
Under the heading “Governance” at page 55, there is a commitment to govern “in a transparent; efficient; inclusive and decisive manner; paying due regard to respecting and upholding the rule of law and the rights of all the citizens of Guyana”. But what is the reality? I already said 4000 persons were unlawfully dismissed by the State over the last 3 months; there are many documented instances of racial and political discrimination, a constitutional wrong; the Public Safety Minister has taken away from the citizens their legal right to be at entertainment places after 2 am; Forensic Auditors have been handpicked in violation of the Procurement Act and the Constitution; the crime wave has skyrocketed; Minister Semona Broomes has been found guilty by the Constitutional Court for violating the Constitution by giving political directions to the Public Service Commission, an independent constitutional body, just after 2 weeks in Government; a constitutional reform body has been established by the Government with no consultations with or an input from the Opposition or indeed, anyone else, and in complete disregard to the Constitution which provides for a standing committee to be established in the National Assembly to deal with constitutional reform; Ministries have been renamed without any consultation; the Guyana Convention Centre renamed, again, without consultation. These are only some instances where fanciful language are inconsistent with the realities.
On the other hand, this Government has already committed to increase remuneration packages for Ministers and their 4 Vice Presidents; each Minister appears to have at a minimum 2 bodyguards and a driver; each Vice President appears to have 3 bodyguards and a driver; the Prime Minister seems to have 6 security personnel surrounding him at all times; each Minister have advisors and the Ministry of Presidency has several - all of them being members and supporters of AFC + APNU, lending to the inference that they are hired not for their skill and competence but as a form of political patronage. I predict that the situation will only get worse with the passage of time. So, while we will have a stagnant and stagnated economy, we will continue to have a parasitical and bloated Governmental bureaucracy luxuriating off scarce tax payers dollars.