Georgetown: With just under one month to go, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Administration is pushing to ensure it delivers on promises in its 100-day plan. President David Granger told reporters yesterday that despite encountering such problems as a bankrupt PetroCaribe Fund and a Consolidated Fund in heavy overdraft, the new Administration is “working to ensure the things we promised (within the 100 days) are delivered.”
He stated that, “When we went into the office, there were some unexpected discoveries; [for] example, the state of the buildings, the state of vehicles, the state of finance, but we are still working to ensure that the promises which we made in our legislative agenda, the promises which we made to the people of Guyana are delivered.”
The new Administration has until August 16 to deliver on the promises set out in its 100-day manifesto plan: reduce the Berbice Bridge toll; increase the salaries of Government workers; implement a phased reduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT); and completely remove VAT from food and other essential items; increase old age pensions and waive duties on fuel, tools and small mining equipment bought by identifiable holders of small concessions.
Already in process is the promise made to return a television station to Lindeners; establish passport, birth certificate licensing offices in Berbice, Essequibo and Linden; hold a National Cane Workers and Cane Farmers Conference; a National Rice Farmers and Rice Millers Conference; establish an Investigative Commission on Corruption, and a Task Force on Crime and Security and on Road Safety; convene a National Conference on Women, a bi-partisan Women’s Working Group, an Indigenous People’s Rights and Resource Conference, and re-assess and depoliticise the National Toshaos Council.
The National Conference of Women which aims at arriving at a Gender Policy collectively drafted by the women from across Guyana and the Indigenous People’s Rights and Resource Conference is set for early August.
Plans to reduce the President’s Pension and other benefits and liberalise the telecommunications sector are also in process.
The Government has since fulfilled such promises as setting the date for the early holding of Local Government Elections (November); establishing and signing on to the Code of Conduct for parliamentarians and ministers; convening a National Youth Conference to discuss the programme of action for a National Youth Policy and a National Youth Action Plan, and passing in the National Assembly the amended Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill.
The goal of establishing the Public Procurement Commission will require a two-third majority vote in Parliament.
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