Roopnaraine urges deeper scrutiny of budget estimates by Parliament groups Nagamootoo scoffs at caretaker govt suggestion Stabroek News April 17, 2000 Working People's Alliance (WPA) Co-Leader, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, during the recent budget debate, lamented that committees of the National Assembly were not more involved in scrutinising the figures of estimates and expenditures presented yearly. Roopnaraine, who was speaking on the final day of debate on the 2000 budget, stated that the elected representatives of the people had a duty to question how the billions being approved in the budget were being spent. He said that a real chance was being missed to secure unity and cooperation between the parties with the under-utilization of that creature of modern government. The WPA co-leader saw the use of the system as a genuine way to help promote healing in the nation, which, he stated, was suffering due to the crippling power agenda being practised. Roopnaraine, while congratulating Minister Saisnarine Kowlessar on his maiden speech, expressed concern as to its timing. Late budgets, he said, raised concern in the minds of the public that all was not well with the economy. Looking at the document the Alliance for Guyana MP questioned the figures presented in the estimates which he stated were unrealistic and were not likely to be achieved. This he said showed that the economy was not developing. Dr Roopnaraine began his critique of the budget by examining the health sector where he said there had been a reduction in the nursing staff at the public institutions. On the issue of crime he stated that despite claims of a dramatic drop, the statistics were showing a different scenario. Roopnaraine urged the government to make public the full list of contracted workers in order to dispel rumours that it was engaging in secret financial dealings. He further called on government to state whether these persons were paying taxes, whether they were being paid in foreign exchange, if they paid NIS or if this had been exempted by law. He also examined the current political situation in the context of Foreign Minister, Clement Rohee's statement that investors were being scared away by the destabilisation tactics of the opposition. This, he stated, was due to the nature of politics whereby any party, once in opposition, goes into the mode of creating destabilisation. The approach was the same when the parties met for dialogue, he said, which was done with daggers drawn. He accused persons who were engaged in these processes of not being capable of leaping out of their fixation. Human resource development Roopnaraine said, was yet another area which was being neglected. He said the budget spoke of billions being spent in the education sector to build schools, but all this would pass for nothing if the human resources, the teachers, were not adequately catered for. He congratulated the efforts of the young people of Guyana, whom he credited with advocating for a race-free country. They deserved all the recognition in the media as they were doing more for racial unity than the politicians. Their efforts to highlight the issues of HIV/AIDS and suicides were also commended by Roopnaraine who stated that he would continue to note those things fresh from young minds. He felt that the government was not making sufficient effort to involve others in society, particularly in the bauxite and Beal satellite lauch matters and the stalled sale of Guyana Stores Ltd. He questioned Aroaima being the sole bidder for Bermine. "How are they buying more if they are losing money?" he asked. Roopnaraine also called for the Guyana Oil Company Ltd (GUYOIL), which was recently shrouded in scandal, to be investigated by the Auditor General's Office rather than internal auditors. He was critical of attempts by the two major parties to hold elections by the January 17, 2001 deadline which he stated was unreachable. They (the PPP/Civic and the PNC), he stated, were falling head over heels to meet the date agreed under the Herdmanston Accord to the extent that they were willing to compromise the integrity of the elections. He questioned their wisdom in failing to consider alternatives if the deadline was not reached. The WPA co-leader suggested a caretaker government for the lost two years of the PPP/Civic administration. This suggestion was scoffed at by Information Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, whose presentation followed that of Roopnaraine. Nagamootoo insisted that elections had to be held on or before the January 17, deadline and that he was in agreement with PNC leader Desmond Hoyte that it should take place. The information minister told the house that it was his understanding after listening to the presentations of PNC members of the assembly and Roopnaraine's that they shared a similar belief. "They are two heads of the same monster," Nagamootoo remarked, stating that the latter had to thank the left over votes from the last general elections for allowing him to sit in the House. He dismissed Roopnaraine's presentation as a glorification of his party rather than a contribution to the budget debate, stating that the Honourable Member only briefly mentioned issues in relation to the fiscal measures. Nagamootoo, in a hard-hitting presentation dubbed the 'Moses Show' by opposition members, contended that the debate was lacklustre and disintegrated into a saga of mis- and dis-information. Nagamootoo recalled that there were good budget debates in the National Assembly when he occupied the journalist benches in the 1970s. But this had been eroded by what he called political colouration. The opposition, the minister claimed, was not even demanding a better system with more funds but were bent on being critical of every aspect of the administration's work. Only PNC backbencher Raphael Trotman, according to Nagamootoo, stood up in the assembly and publicly stated that he was going to live in Guyana. On the issue of wages, the minister stated that it was unfair to say that the government was forced to pay increases to workers in the public service. After all, he remarked, the government had set up the Armstrong tribunal and had said that it was going to accept the findings. Nevertheless, he added, the government had to pay wages in relation to affordability as was done in the PNC administration. Nagamootoo recalled that Carl Greenidge, when he had occupied the finance portfolio, used to dictate what increases the government could have afforded. That concept, he announced, was here to stay. The remarks by Hoyte in which he stated that members of the government cabinet were convicted felons also drew sharp criticism from the information minister. He said that it was the PNC that had made him a criminal when he was detained in 1968 under the National Security Act for participating in a demonstration in front of the US embassy, by a directive from Hoyte who was then Home Affairs Minister. Nagamootoo said that there seemed to be two PNCs, one that he was negotiating with in the Oversight Committee and another which sat in the National Assembly. However, he said, they were still capable of working together to promote the standard of living in the country.