Five residents of Parika backdam left their homes early on Sunday August 26 and travelled along the muddy dam out to the public road. Pauline Henry of Caria Caria woke up even earlier in her home up the Essequibo river and took a speedboat to Parika.
Birja Mohan left his sons in charge of his shop in Vreed en Hoop and hailed a mini-bus going down the coast.
These seven persons were off to attend a Region Three 'Pow Wow' on Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), and were numbered among over 6000 people in Guyana who have gone to meetings over the last two months to give suggestions on what they believe will help them and others lead more comfortable and prosperous lives. In fact, all over the globe in countries such as Kenya, Bolivia and Tanzania this consultation with the world's poor has been going on under a programme initiated by donor institutions and coordinated by the World Bank.
The philosophy behind this huge and quite revolutionary initiative is simple. Poor people are the experts on poverty and as such must have a say in how their governments devise strategies to reduce it.
As a World Bank paper on Poverty Reduction Strategies stated in March 2000, "The concept is to ensure that the needs of the poor come first in the public policy debate and that lasting development and poverty reduction require a true transformation of society, driven by the countries themselves in consultation with civil society and the public sector... Armed with Poverty Reduction Strategies, countries become the masters of their own development, with a clearly articulated vision for their future." The 43 countries which are taking part in the programme are so- called Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, or HIPC, for short. These nations owe debts to foreign countries and world lending institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. These debts amassed over several decades are so large that they are unsustainable and having to service them is affecting the countries' economic and social performance. Instead of building roads or installing water systems, governments are obligated to pay back loans racked up decades ago. The creditors decided in 1996 to write off a portion of the debts under the HIPC initiative. But they put conditions on the use of the funds which would otherwise have been allocated as repayments. They must be spent on alleviating poverty. Now, under the enhanced HIPC initiative which forgives even more debt, the affected countries have to devise and implement a comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy Proposal.
While this might appear to be a quite harmless request the Poverty Reduction Strategy Proposals envisaged by the World Bank are so wide-ranging that they affect all facets of a country's economic and social development and might raise questions about sovereignty.
In the Final Assessment of the Interim PRS paper submitted by Guyana in November 2000, the staff of the International Development Association and the IMF wrote "... the government needs to keep the wage bill constant in real terms and continue with public service reform in an atmosphere of difficult industrial relations and election-related pressures." It went on: "With support from external agencies, the costing studies for some of the larger public investments, such as the GUYSUCO modernization program, drainage, bridge and road infrastructure projects, are being undertaken. The government needs to conduct cost-benefit analysis of these investment projects, and prioritize them taking into account capacity constraints and poverty reduction targets. The government also needs to explain the nature, magnitude, and rationale for the proposed support for private sector activities, as well as any government participation in commercial activities."
The PRSP is not limited to economic issues but "will need to clearly link the proposed policies and programs and the poverty reduction goals, including actions to improve governance, and transparency and accountability in public policy... Issues such as inclusion, justice, corruption, gender and the environment" should also be emphasized.
In addition the enhanced debt relief for HIPC is conditional on the completion and implementation of the PRSP. The position paper states, "In principle countries seeking assistance under HIPC Initiative should have a PRS in place... and should have made demonstrable progress in its implementation by the completion point (the point at which full debt relief is provided irrevocably)."
Not only debt relief, but future funding is also predicated on the PRSP implementation. A country's government "will send the final strategy to the executive boards of the IMF and World Bank... and a recommendation will be made as to whether this can be a basis for World Bank and IMF concessional lending."
Guyana is expected to complete the PRSP later this year and this will influence it being forgiven some US$590M dollars in debt service under the enhanced initiative. This is in addition to US$440M of relief under the original HIPC programme. This would reduce Guyana's external debt by 54 per cent and bring it to sustainable levels less than two-and-a-half times annual government revenue and one-and-a-half times annual exports. The government would in effect have an extra US$25M annually to spend on reducing poverty. With such a large incentive the government is said to be keen on devising the PRSP as soon as possible. Although it should be noted that the World Bank considers that Guyana has already "made significant improvements in reducing the incidence of poverty from 43% in 1993 to 35% in 1999."
Pauline Henry of Caria Caria had come to the 'Pow Wow' because the residents of her riverain community, who are primarily farmers, have been suffering from low prices for their produce which is mostly ground provisions such as eddoes, cassava and plantains. It has been a problem for many years as the only place to sell their produce was at the Parika stelling. Her intention this Sunday was to make sure that the PRS proposal for Region 3 included a solution to this problem.
For the delegation from the Parika backdam and nearby Roden Rust they had been living in the area over three decades and they still did not have electricity or potable water. The road was also in a terrible state. They too showed up to make sure that the Region 3 proposal placed a high priority on better roads, electrification and an improved water supply.
Birja Mohan of Vreed en Hoop had a rather different problem. His shop, one of the busiest in the neighbourhood, produces a lot of garbage and he hoped to have included a mention of an incinerator.
Around 200 people attended the Pow Wow which was held at Zeeburg Secondary School right next to the sea wall. On the podium of the auditorium there was the junior Minister of Human Services and Social Security Bibi Shadick. Also present was Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj. While the government is driving the creation of the PRSP and Dr Roger Luncheon heads the National Steering Committee, this body includes a number of NGO's in keeping with the idea of involving as many local institutions as possible. Gajraj at one point did start explaining to the crowd which groups they should join, depending on their issues, but he was careful to mention that he was not operating in a ministerial capacity. It is worth noting that a number of persons told officials from the PRS committee that they were afraid to talk for fear that they might be singled out as being critical of the government.
Twenty meetings had been held in Region 3 and now it was time for the region to come to a consensus on which were the most important issues which needed immediate attention. These would be then put into a regional proposal and sent up to become part of a draft national PRSP which would be reviewed in a national consultation made up of representatives from the ten regions.
The crowd was first asked which of the five areas they were most interested in: education, good governance, health, economic opportunities and employment creation, and housing, water and sanitation. They were asked to assemble in groups where they would review the problems gleaned from the consultation meetings. They would whittle these down to a top five and then vote for solutions to these problems.
The largest crowd was for 'housing, etc' with almost one hundred persons taking over the back end of the hall. There were a lot of women in this group, a reflection that the topics directly affected their everyday lives. 'Good governance' got about 40 contributors most of whom were Afro-Guyanese. 'Economics' was next with perhaps 30. The 'education' group had about 14, all women save for two men, and 'health' got perhaps ten. There was a noticeable absence of young men in all the groups and the average age of the participants was probably in the low forties.
After a short break the groups gathered and started discussing the problems raised from the previous meetings which had been put down on handouts along with some of the solutions. It was clear from the beginning that this would not be an easy task as many persons had their own particular agendas, some of them rather obscure. One man in the housing group said he had a friend who wanted to build an eddo processing plant in Hogg Island but was not willing to invest many millions of dollars unless the government built a new stelling. A captain from Santa Mission had originally asked for stipends for village councillors and for outboard motors. One man read from a long, learned paper for about 15 minutes abut the importance of an industrial site for Region 3. A woman in the health group was keen on stopping the selling of snacks at a certain school right next to the toilets. "I am in my classroom and I can smell the stench," the teacher said, wrinkling up her nose.
Another proposed that packaging be used more in selling foodstuffs in the markets. A man was upset at all the spitting and urinating in public that could cause the spread of viruses. He was also worried about the use of pesticides on fruits and vegetables and recalled that he ate something at one of the markets and immediately vomited. A woman looking rather alarmed, asked him which market that was.
Someone else recalled his trips to North America and how enticing ice apples looked, but they were really full of chemicals. In the housing group one man, perhaps cognizant of the recent lands acquisition amendment, said the government should take back land neglected by farmers to stop the canals getting blocked up. In other words there were a lot of specific problems when the regional proposal was aiming to prioritise general problems and solutions which would benefit all.
'Good governance' was probably the noisiest of the groups, given the contentious issue of corruption. One woman talked of the breakdown of law and order, another of bridges not properly built. In the paper a reference was made to an NDC chairman whose son was a contractor. One man gave as a solution to good governance that the country should be grooming more cricketers and sportsmen. The moderator wrote this down on the blackboard but a woman complained this was hardly a priority. Instead, intense investigation of corrupt practices and accountability seemed to be popular along with advanced planning for infrastructure projects. One person said that the solution to this would be to get rid of under-performing officials and to bring in some experts.
The economics group was more low key with the discussion centering on low incomes, unemployment and inadequate markets for produce. Solutions included an industrial site which someone said would only work if companies received a tax holiday for going there. He was alarmed that some solutions included government buying tractors for farmers, saying this was socialism and it would be better that they received more for their produce and used the money to buy equipment. One man then informed the group that in Thailand they had gotten rid of all the tractors. "Iron buffaloes" is what they called them. This brought some bemused nods from the group.
Meanwhile next door in 'good governance' the moderator slightly overwhelmed by all the talk was accused of ignoring a whole section of the gathering. But he kept his cool as did the others who tried their best not to lead the process too much but rather let the groups talk it out and eventually settle down.
"What is the solution to that?" they constantly asked trying to keep the conversation positive.
Down in 'education' things were far more orderly with a small group and all the contributors at desks in neat little rows. In fact many of them were teachers and were very familiar with the issues and solutions. Top among these being lack of training, overcrowding, lax placement policies ("The reason why parents send children to other schools is because some schools are under performing"), expensive school books and truancy. The group swiftly came to a consensus on solutions which included continuous assessment of teachers, placement policies properly enforced and subsidies for books. Ambitious suggestions included free government transportation and free hot meals. The exercise was probably made easier by the fact that educational issues largely affect all schools in the same way, as opposed to communities suffering from different problems. A man with electricity but no road is unlikely to prioritize electricity as the number one problem.
'Health' too was coming along nicely with a number of regional health officials leading the conversation. In all the groups two or three persons tended to do most of the talking and the rest would listen and either disagree noisily or nod in support. The moderators would pick up on these cues and if the response to a suggestion was positive would write it down on the blackboard. On the whole the women in the 'housing' group mostly listened, but their reactions were just as important at arriving at a list of issues.
After an hour or so of Pretty Rowdy Stuff (PRS), the groups in the main auditorium simmered down. This was partly because the lunch hour was fast approaching and they realized that it was time to make progress and go eat something. The blackboards started filling up with lists of problems and solutions. At the moment when the moderators felt any more talk would probably not help the process it was time to vote.
Persons were given blue slips. They could vote for a problem once if they were moderately in favour of it, twice if they were keen on it and five times if they really really wanted to see it as the top priority. They were also required to vote for solutions to these problems. In many cases there were many solutions for one problem. For example in the economics group the issue of low wages included raising the tax threshold and building farm to market roads. Many of the problems were too large and vague. Under 'good governance' the "need for good administration" was the main problem which seemed pretty obvious. The 'education' list included "the poor standard of education."
The moderator would go around with a black plastic bag and everyone would throw in their slips. The raconteur counted them and the results were written on the board. This was voting the World Bank way.
The results were roughly as follows:
'Health's' No 1 problem was considered to be inadequate health facilities for riverain communities and the solution was health centres with basic equipment such as X-rays and a medex. This was a logical decision given that many persons have died coming out of the Essequibo River on their way to the Regional hospital at Vreed en Hoop.
The second most important problem was sexually transmitted diseases - HIV in particular - and third came inadequate medical staff.
In 'good governance' the number one problem was the need for good administration (53 votes) and the need to erase corruption (12). Most voted for a solution of intense investigation and accountability by officials. Interestingly ten votes were cast for stronger village councils.
In 'economics' unemployment drew 44 votes and the group voted on a range of solutions which did not seem to help in whittling down the options. Low incomes got 32 votes.
"Inadequate supply of text books" drew 11 votes in 'education,' "truancy" eight votes and "lack of tertiary education," seven.
The last group to vote was 'housing' with water, electricity and roads as one problem getting 97 votes followed by drainage, housing and telephones. The participants could finally go to lunch.
Later this year the government will present the final PRSP to the World Bank.
But then the important part of the whole process really starts - implementation and monitoring of projects.
James Droop, Guyana's country coordinator for the World Bank in Guyana who was at the Region 3 Pow Wow communicated later that "this process is more than just about allocating the debt relief funds, it's about setting in place a country-owned framework to ensure sustainable growth, poverty reduction and more coordinated management of donor funds. Together this should mean that debt relief isn't required again in the future. The challenge for the government now is to turn the priorities emerging from the consultations into public policies within a medium-term budgetary and macroeconomic framework. They also need to establish the institutional mechanisms for the implementation and monitoring of progress under the PRSP."
Droop said the consultations served another purpose by throwing up a tremendous amount of information about what poor people needed and as such helped the government in policy decisions. He emphasized that far from the lending institutions dictating policy, the PRSP was designed to be a homegrown proposal that could be integrated into existing economic and social policies. For Guyana the PRSP was seen as an extension of the longer term National Development Strategy with an emphasis on budgeting and prioritisation. It is expected that the PRSP would be updated every three to five years.
He noted that the comments on public sector wages in the final assessment paper of the interim PRSP referred to policies already implemented by the government. The lending agencies wanted to be given clear assurances in the way money is spent as part of an improved policy framework. "Institutions should not be constrained to support policies which are not successful."
Droop acknowledged that there could in general be a tension between providing policy advice and imposing conditions but with the PRSP being genuinely owned by governments, they set out the conditions.
In the assessment of the interim PRSP it was noted that "the highest incidence of poverty in the rural areas, together with the difficult terrain and inadequate transport and communication facilities, results in isolation of the poor. Thus, the delivery of essential services to these isolated pockets of poverty is difficult and costly. The full PRSP needs to detail the targeted social programmes of the government to deal with these pockets of poverty... the regional development councils should be strengthened with personnel, resources and greater autonomy to deliver essential services... "
Over lunch the delegation from Parika backdam said they were satisfied with the meeting. They thought that their problems had been communicated to someone other than the government. The World Bank would now be able to encourage the government of the day into making improvements to their community. Pauline Henry, while packing her backpack to return home, said she was happy that her suggestions had been accepted. Birja Mohan, the shopkeeper, said he had in the end voted for "water, electricity and roads" - issues not related to his waste problem. But he thought it was best to look at something that would benefit everyone in the region.