President Donald Ramotar and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, last evening met with a large number of Guyanese living in the Florida, United States of America.
At the meeting at the City Hall in Miramar, President Ramotar spoke of the significant transformation Guyana’s economy underwent over the past two decades, moving from a state of impoverishment and hopelessness to eight years of consecutive economic growth, leading the country to move from a Highly-Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) to a Lower Middle-Income Developing Country.
The Guyanese Head of State spoke of the many efforts successive People’s Progressive Party /Civic (PPP/C) Governments have made in ensuring that Guyana becomes economically prosperous.
He spoke to government’s decision to undertake several projects, including the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) Expansion Project, which he singled out as a critical investment if Guyana is serious about developing its tourism product, and becoming a travel hub.
The president also spoke of the need for cheap and reliable energy to Guyanese, pointing to relentless efforts to unleash the country’s hydropower potential.
He highlighted the opposition’s position of denying the project, but reaffirmed his government’s commitment to its realisation.
The Head of State noted too, ongoing efforts of his government to realise other transformational projects, including the Specialty Hospital, paving of the Linden to Lethem Highway, and a Deep Water Port among others.
Speaking on the social side of Guyana’s development, President Ramotar highlighted the interventions his government has made to encourage children to attend school; to better the lives of pensioners and to strengthen the health, housing and other sectors.
Turning his attention to the strong anti-development stance taken by the opposition, President Ramotar explained that the opposition appears to be going against what is good for Guyana so as to make the government look bad, hence handing them a political edge.
Making reference to the internationally approved Anti-Money Laundering Bill, the Head of State said that the bill will have all of the administrative measures in place to send the signal to the international community that the Guyana Government is serious about its passage, but can only do so much since it does not control the parliament, and it should not be blacklisted. The status of Guyana with regards this legislation is up for review, this month.
The challenges of dealing with corruption, which President Ramotar acknowledged do exist, were being dealt with through various mechanisms. He cited some of the substandard roads done by errant contractors, and opined that this outcome is as a result of collusion among contractors, engineers and consultants who are supposed to overlook the Government’s interests.
He told the gathering that Government will be looking to have firmer penalty clauses implemented so that pressure could be brought to bear on those engaged in substandard work.
He also spoke of the opposition’s two-mouthed approach to the issue of corruption, which he said is purely politicking.
In explaining how open the PPPC Government is with regards to public scrutiny, he mentioned that the media is allowed to report on the Public Accounts Committee, and others that allow for answers to be sought on issues within various sectors. The fact that government only maintains a “no-objection” right with regards to contracts to ensure accountability shows that the government is in favour of transparency.
Meanwhile Minister Nandlall, spoke of Guyana’s success over the past decade on the economic and social fronts.
“Our focus has been in the social sector of our country, because we recognise that to develop our country, we have to develop our human potential,” he said, and pointed to ongoing public/private partnerships to realise the country’s potential.
He however, noted that this progress could have been much greater had there been an opposition which wants to see development and which would have used their one seat majority to press government to accelerate progress at a more rapid pace.
Minister Nandlall also urged the gathering to remain wary of the opposition’s efforts to reverse Guyana’s economic gains.
“It is important that we remain focused and we pay careful attention to what is going on in our country. You know from where we have come… the destruction which had taken place in our country, the assassination of democracy and those who champion democracy, the way elections were rigged, the way our country was reduced from potentially the richest country in the Caribbean to a bankrupt economy, that is what happens when the People’s Progressive Party is out of office…,” he warned.
Minister Nandlall added that the main players in Guyana’s economic destruction are still in the picture.
You must be logged in to post a comment.