Georgetown- The Alliance for Change and A Partnership for National Unity are being blamed for defying reason in their motion to cut 20 billion dollars from the 2012 budget. Two notice papers of Motions for Amendments, to be moved in the Committee of Supply of the National Assembly to the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2012, were circulated to the House yesterday.
One is in the name of APNU Member of Parliament (MP), Mr. Carl Greenidge, proposing certain cuts to the budgets of several agencies, including the Office of the President; Office of the Prime Minister; and Ministry of Finance – which could seriously impact the LCDS and Guyana’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) drive, and even provisions to the Government Information Agency (GINA) and the National Communications Network (NCN).
“I call on the Opposition to withdraw these cuts as soon as possible, in the national interest,” Dr Ashni Singh reiterated.
In answering questions about how this would affect future talks with the Opposition, he said: “We will not lose our appetite for speaking. This government is committed to speaking and to listening, and we will continue to be available to be engaged. But I will say that this move is unhelpful, but will not hinder or temper our willingness to speak, and to listen, and to engage.”
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds also said he was astounded when he saw APNU giving notice of its intention to remove the total subsidy to GPL.
“What I think this shows most of all (is that) all of us who are in government, who are leaders, have to hold an open, even hand all across the country, and in so many sectors and areas. And what this shows most of all is that the APNU is not ready to do that. It’s ready only for the easy streets, it is not ready for the difficult decisions which a government needs,” he said.
“We will fight it. We will not accept it. We call on them to remove it.
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