Parliament approves 2004 budget
--- further $1.3B for bauxite communities
by Chamanlall Naipaul
Guyana Chronicle
April 17, 2004
THIS year's National Budget was approved by the National Assembly yesterday after five days of debate.
The main opposition party, the People's National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) was again absent, having boycotted the budget proceedings from Finance Minister Saisnarine Kowlessar's presentation of his budget's speech on March 29.
The PNC/R says its main focus at this time is the absence of an independent investigation into allegations that a phantom squad was responsible for the killing of many of the bandits who wrecked havoc in Guyana after five prisoners broke out of the Camp Street jail on Mash Day 2002, and that Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj was linked to the squad.
Minister Gajraj reiterated denial of any involvement with any phantom squad when he spoke on the budget in Parliament on Thursday.
Winding up the debate on behalf of the government Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Reepu Daman Persaud, who is now serving his 40th year in Parliament, said the budget reflects an emphasis on investing in the social sector in order to enhance the state of social development in Guyana, in particular, to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged members of the society.
Minister Persaud, who said government has managed the economy prudently and efficiently, effectively moving the nation from the category of a poor country to a middle-income developing one, argued that the budget is a blueprint which forms the basis for retooling and modernizing the economy. This includes the modernization of the sugar and bauxite industries, the latter to ensure its survival and long-term viability.
A further $1.3 billion will be spent this year to subsidize the cost of electricity and other community services in the bauxite communities.
In relation to stimulating private sector investment, a legislative reform agenda is being pursued, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said. Some of the measures include the Investment and Small Business Acts and the reform of the Value Added Tax (VAT). In addition an investment conference involving both local and foreign investors will be held this year to discuss investment in selected sectors, Mr. Persaud added.
The minister, recalling the manner in which the Parliament was administered in the pre-1992 period, noted that since then the situation has been significantly improved with the return of democracy. He observed that presently four Parliamentary Sectoral Committees exist, two of which are presided over by members of the opposition. ""Nothing like this happened in the pre-1992 period," Mr.. Persaud asserted.
These Committees scrutinize legislation and ministers can be interrogated by them as well.
Touching on the reform of the constitution Minister Persaud said the government deprived itself of authority to build democracy.
He emphasised that this government always puts people first and will continue to do that. He chastised the PNC/R for boycotting the budget debate and issued a call to the opposition to work in unity for the sake of the country's development.
Speaking of the management of Parliament, the minister contended that the implementation of a Parliamentary Management Committee, presided over by the Speaker of the National Assembly, has greatly improved the running of the affairs of the body. Recalling the way in which the affairs of Parliament was executed in the past, he reminded the National Assembly of how the late President Dr. Cheddi Jagan was gagged from 1988-1992 in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Persaud noted, too, the infrastructure surrounding government's economic and financial management in Guyana is one of the most modern in the Caribbean and perhaps even in the developing world.
He informed the National Assembly that the infrastructure includes an active Economic Services Committee and Public Accounts Committee, the newly implemented Fiscal and Accountability Act, the recently passed Audit Act and an extremely active Office of the Auditor General.