Georgetown: The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is pushing that if elected to government it will create 50,000 new jobs during its first five years along with a glimpse into some of its plans and programs of the party’s elections manifesto.
In sharing aspects of excerpts of the party’s 2020 – 2025 Manifesto titled “Our Plan for Prosperity,” the party’s Presidential Candidate Irfan Ali on Friday divulged summaries of the manifesto at the PPP Headquarters Freedom House.
Adding that a full copy of the party’s manifesto will be presented in January 2020, the Former Minister of Housing pleaded with the electorate for his party to be heard and to be given another chance at governing Guyana.
He said that the partial manifesto can be found on the PPP/C Facebook page while Ali also promised that a government under his watch would be more inclusive and would work for all Guyanese, those who support him and those who do not.
Underscoring some of the topics and issues that will be dealt with, Ali said a PPP government will address; more jobs and less crime; better education; reduction of the cost of living; removal of VAT on utilities and exports; discarding of curfews; free university with five years; restoration of bonus of joint services; no additional taxes; reversal of VAT on building material and on mining, farming and forestry equipment amongst others.
Ali said the PPP/C will provide the enabling environment and incentives for expansion of existing businesses and emergence of new businesses by removing obstacles to growth.
He said the traditional productive sectors must continue to play a significant economic and social role in the economy. Unlike the Oil and Gas sector which is capital intensive; mining, fisheries, agriculture, sugar, bauxite, rice and forestry are labour intensive and employ a significant percentage of the population.
Ali said Guyana’s infrastructure, including infrastructure for transport (overland/road, air and river), utilities (water, telecoms/ICT, electricity), sea and river defence, drainage, garbage collection/sanitation, new hospitals and schools must be expanded, modernized and become more efficient to support a flourishing economy.
“When we speak of the economy and jobs, we are not only talking about the creation of jobs, but we are speaking about the creation of higher paid jobs, higher up the value scale and for this, it requires investor confidence, it requires us pushing boundaries and pushing the envelope and it requires us training our human capacity and changing the system, the education output to meet that economic requirement of our country. For this to happen, we must have a strong analysis of the gap, as to where we want to be as against what we have to take us there,” Ali said.
The PPP/C Presidential Candidate began and ended his speech by calling on persons who have not historically supported the PPP and those who walked away to vote for the party come March 2, 2020.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has given some insight into what can be expected in key sectors under his Party’s governance. These were targeted at eliminating some of the country’s key shortfalls in recent time.
He had indicated at a press conference that the Party’s robust energy plan includes not only a significant reduction in costs but some 400-megawatt (MW) capacity – which is more than double the less than 200 MW that is currently being generated. This was announced in light of the fact that the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) continues to grapple with the provision of reliable energy due to the deficit of its capacity.
Jagdeo, who is also the party’s General Secretary, has announced that if the PPP returns to office at the upcoming elections, then resuscitation of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP) would be among its top priorities for the energy sector.
“Our plan is resuming discussions on Amaila. Immediately, starting to move forward on that project but recognising that that project will take some time into the future because it will take about four to five years to be completed. You can wait on that to bring in power now – baseload,” he had acknowledged.
Until the project can yield results, he noted, the PPP administration will move on to a gas power plant, which it believes could be done easily. However, while it will be bringing another 20 megawatts into the system, he stressed that it will not come into fruition until maybe 2021. As such, they will have to rely on fossil fuel initially to stabilise power supply in the country and bring an end to the constant blackouts.
“So immediately, we move to fossil fuel and then the medium-term – well by 2021 – to get to the gas fire power plant and then the hydro in about four years. That should put over 400 megawatts of new power [into the grid]. Right now, we’re generating under 200 megawatts, so that [400 megawatts] will allow us to do street lights, it will allow us to reduce the cost of electricity significantly and it will allow us to do a number of other things both for household and [commercial purposes],” he stated.
The AFHP, which was initiated under the PPP Administration, was continually blocked by the then APNU and AFC combined Opposition while controlling the National Assembly by a one-seat majority. This project would have assisted GPL to get adequate electricity supply, thus, providing cheaper and more reliable power to citizens and businesses.
The Education Sector under the PPP administration is said to be geared towards improved access, quality, affordability and preparing Guyanese students at the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Tertiary levels. This is to ensure that they secure better-paying jobs in line with the requirement of the economy.
Prominent among these would be the delivery of free education at the University of Guyana (UG) and enhanced access through the use of Information and Communications (ICT). Previously, it was explained that free university education would not be available initially but within two or three years as they work out the details of this policy initiative. The Party had also announced plans to give out 20,000 online scholarships, which will help with private education especially in courses that are not offered by UG.
Adding to that, the PPP has also published on its social media accounts several posters outlining the removal of Value-Added Tax (VAT) on key areas such as electricity, water and healthcare. The VAT on farming, mining and forestry equipment will also be reversed, it promises. Also high on the Party’s agenda is the reversal and/or reduction of the over 200 tax measures imposed by the coalition administration, such as on building materials, data and exports.
Other areas the PPP plans to address when it gets into office include reducing the age limit on the importation of vehicles, which will take more than $1 million off the current cost of vehicles and, thus, be more affordable for Guyanese.
Added to this is the restoration of the Joint Services bonus as well as support for small businesses via grants and interest-free loans to promote entrepreneurship.
The PPP will also roll out an extensive plan on how Guyanese will benefit from the riches expected from the impending oil and gas sector, as well as outline plans for the security sector with clearly defined strategies to tackle the various forms of crimes.
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