By Miranda La Rose
PNC REFORM (PNC/R) MP Robert Corbin says that the joint committees set up by President Bharrat Jagdeo and PNC/R Leader Desmond Hoyte to look at problems facing the society and come up with solutions, "is the final test" for both the PPP/Civic and his party.
Stabroek News
June 30, 2001
Leading off the fourth day of debate on the 2001 budget on Thursday, Corbin said if solutions could not be found Guyanese will lose confidence in the words of both leaders. Right now, he said that the people were not looking at who scores cheap political points but how the leaders address the problems. If their needs and concerns are not addressed, he said, the politicians will not be capable of facing the wrath of the people, "the final arbiter". He gave recent examples of people's uprisings in the Philippines and Malaysia among other countries in the Far East.
Corbin, who promised to be brief (but spoke for 45 minutes) expressed the hope that people will be able to see and hear for themselves the level of representation by the persons they elected from the televised proceedings.
The only promising remark, he said tongue-in-cheek came from PPP/C MP, Dr Bheri Ramsarran who expressed shock at PNC/R back-bencher James McAllister's perception of neglect, discrimination and corrupt practices in Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) on Monday. Dr Ramsarran's shock, Corbin said, should now propel serious evaluation of projects in the region.
Based on the presentations of Housing and Water Minister, Shaik Baksh and PPP/Civic MP Odinga Lumumba which gave the impression that "all is well... there is no need for investigations" into the activities of the ministry and that "there is no discrimination", Corbin said that it appears as though the only proper contribution one could make and accept in parliament was one that praises government or an assessment comparable to a teacher marking books.
Referring to Minister in the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Bibi Shadick's rebuttal to McAllister's presentation on maladministration in Region Three, he said that Shadick's 35 years of teaching is no qualification "for assessing the veracity of what is happening on the ground".
PNC/R MP Jerome Khan's observation on the serious crisis facing the rice industry, he said should not have been met with heckling about his bald head and other barbs, Corbin lamented.
In spite of all the praise from the government benches on the good work government had been doing in turning the fortunes of the economy around, Corbin quoted from the budget speech to show the decline in production in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors for last year compared to the previous year. Sugar production was less than the previous year, he said adding that rice output fell by 20.1 %; poultry dipped by 5.3%; forestry output slumped by 16% and manufacturing declined by 13.9% with beverages and manufacturing dropping from between 12% to 16%; footwear by 12%; garments by 24% and rum by 33% among others.
The same budget, he noted, highlighted an increase in bauxite production in spite of all the problems of obsolete machinery, flooding in the mines and an unstable power supply. However, he said this achievement was not being heard about from the government benches and he asked if there was some reason for this.
Ministers, he said, are blaming the government's terrible performance on `slow fire and more fire' and soon he said you might hear about `aggressive fire'.
PPP/Civic MP Khemraj Ramjattan, he said, would like the National Assembly to believe that the PNC REFORM is the problem because of protests but he said that Ramjattan failed to recall the burning of cane fields, civil disobedience and the numerous strikes for the 28 years of PNC rule which were instigated by the PPP. Throughout that period, he said that the PNC did not complain.
When a party is in government, he said it is expected to govern and if the PPP/Civic cannot take the heat and if the PNC REFORM is responsible for everything that goes wrong, "perhaps", he said, "the PPP/Civic should stand down and the PNC should run the government".
Corbin, who is also the shadow minister for public works asked the government what had become of the four-lane highway promised to ease congestion on the East Bank Public Road some years ago and to account for the sub-standard work done on the East Coast Demerara public road - funds for which were negotiated by the PNC government and to make public the report on the breach in the Mon Repos Sea Defence. Responding to Corbin's questions about accountability, Works Minister Anthony Xavier said that the reports on the stone scam and the sinking wharf had been made public because the government believed in transparency. However, he noted that the PNC still has much to account for in terms of funds allocated for a number of roads which should have been constructed countrywide, the glass factory and the power barge.
On a point of order, Corbin noted that a commission to inquire into the operations of the barge was held and a report issued and not a cent of taxpayers' money was spent to fund the probe.
Responding to McAllister's comments on substandard work done on a number of infrastructural projects, including the sunken wharf at Charity and the sinking bridge on Mandela Avenue, Xavier said that mistakes are made and could be costly but that was the nature of civil engineering.