-Hinds calls budget honest, substantive
Stabroek News
April 14, 2004
GAP/WPA Member of Parliament, Sheila Holder admonished government over the continually increasing domestic debt, as the 2004 budget debate, minus the PNCR, began yesterday.
Unlike previous occasions there were no demonstrations around the Ocean View Convention centre by PNCR MPs.
Holder, who led off the debate for the opposition in the absence of the main opposition, told the National Assembly that the growing domestic debt was being plugged with grants and loans.
However in response, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds saw the budget as being factual and honest. In his presentation he declared that nothing in the document was offensive or compromising in nature but simply was an account of areas where the government was doing well and also poorly.
He advised everyone, in particular students, to obtain a copy of the document to to see where they need to help in putting their shoulders to the wheel to achieve the targeted growth rate of 2.5% for 2004.
"Substance before style," was Hinds' view in relation to the contents of the budget while indicating that decades of similar budgets might be necessary.
He said Stabroek News had said in one article that no village was too small for mention in the budget, a fact Hinds said persons should take into consideration to see if the government was lying in its disclosures.
Hinds, acknowledging a contraction in the economy of 0.6% in 2003 (projected to be a 1.2% increase), recognised the need for growth rates of 7% per annum for the next couple of years to put the country on a firm footing with other developing countries. But he pointed to improvements in the rice, poultry and timber industries as positive indicators of growth.
Hinds said the government is mindful of criticisms that label the budget as empty on efforts to stimulate growth. After all critics have the freedom to say anything since they do not have to bring about a balanced budget. He said the country is still on a learning curve, while acknowledging instances of incompetence and corruption.
However, these need to be dealt with in a proper and orderly way to ensure there is no recurrence once found, Hinds said.
"We might not get everything perfect but we can't wait for perfect conditions while the nation waits."
But Holder said that attributing the poor economic climate to SARS, 9/11 and the war in Iraq, was pure fallacy and tantamount to disregarding the views of the citizens many of whom thought otherwise.
And she described the projections of growth as simple grasping at straws. According to Holder, the fundamental to development is the resolution of problems associated with political issues, now a cloud over the country and the economy. Holder also scoffed at efforts by the government to seek to lay the blame for the economy at the feet of the PNCR.
She said the PPP/C had been given a mandate from the electorate to govern and if it wants the support and respect of the opposition then it has to desist from acts of deceit and malice among other things.
It is only then that it will find reductions in political activism.
And she admonished the government over its handling of the allegations of a state organised death squad, while cautioning it on its lack of adherence to the rule of law.
Foreign Trade and International Co-operation Minister Clement Rohee
in his speech said that the budget could not be looked at in a vacuum but rather in the context of what Guyana and other developing nations were faced with.
These problems are not of the country's making but are structurally inherited from the existing global framework.
Rohee acknowledged the need for government to be scrutinised on the budget but challenged anyone to compare the administration's tenure with that of its predecessor.
According to Rohee, while the government has no problem with criticism, once made it should attract suitable alternatives as was done when they were in opposition under the PNC.
"Those who are without sin let them cast the first stone," Rohee declared.
Holder said the government claimed that the budget did not contain any new taxes while there were increased contributions to the National Insurance Scheme from 12% to 13%. The employee's contribution will move from 4.8% to 5.2% while the employer's obligation will rise from 7.2% to 7.8%.
She suggested the budget was playing to the Washington consensus instead of delivering the policy at the rates to get the economy moving. According to Holder, the country had already begun to show signs of being a failed state as evident in the recent opinion of the World Bank.
She cited delays in the establishment of the public procurement commission as a deterrent to efforts to ensure scrutiny and equity in government works.
Meanwhile Rohee challenged members of the opposition to go out into the streets and hear the things that members of the public are clamouring for.
"I am optimistic that hardly anyone wants to see (Home Affairs Minister Ronald) Gajraj go or government bring more people into shared government or issues of the type the opposition talk about."
Instead people talk about issues of water, roads, agricultural production, the environment and how to keep the cost of living down.
Rohee said the budget contains positive indicators for the balance of payments.
and that 2004 shows great potential for increasing trade through foreign direct investment.
The House, following amendments by a select committee, passed the Audit Bill 2004, which was read the first time on March 15, and which had been referred to the committee on March 19.
This bill sets out the responsibilities and authority of the Auditor General, strengthens Parliamentary oversight over the work of the Auditor General, provides for the establishment and administration of an independent Audit Office and regulates such other matters connected with or incidental to the independent auditing of the finances of Guyana.