He says that there is indeed macro-economic stability, but asks whether this has led to any life in the body politic.

Dev was yesterday's first speaker in the continuing debate on the National Budget, which commenced on Tuesday. The PNCR is boycotting the debate and the only opposition representatives are from GAP/WPA and ROAR.

"Where is the growth? We are playing with numbers," Dev added noting that for the Minister of Finance Saisnarine Kowlessar to compare [Guyana] with other countries in the world is an insult to the Guyanese people.

And he feels that the theme for this year's budget of investing for sustained growth is a misnomer, since there is very little in the budget to bring about investment, sustained growth or improved social services. He said this year's budget was a repeat of the last two years, simply because nothing has really changed.

Dev said that the role of the budget should be about the distribution of assets, the allocation of resources and the stabilising of the economy. He said that it is the role of a government to redistribute wealth so that the poor and downtrodden could be brought to a level.

He said the budget was regressive rather than progressive and called the increase in the contributions to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) as a further burden on the pockets of ordinary people. He said instead the income tax threshold should have been increased so that the lot of the majority of people could be improved.

He told the National Assembly that Guyana's problem is not the lack of money but that of an intermediation of funds. "Are you telling us that $50 billion had to be taken out of the banking system and had to be sterilised?" he asked, adding that after that there was still excess liquidity of $40 billion in the banking system. He said that since ROAR's entry into the National Assembly in 2001, the party pointed out these facts and got no answer. "This is a government that refuses to listen, but takes comments out of context for political mileage.

"Our belief is that this government does not understand the role of a government in the free market economy," Dev stated, adding that the government is still in control of some major sectors and as such "we don't have a complete free enterprise system... The Washington Consensus is telling us to take care of the macro-economic fundamentals and economic growth will take care of itself. This has never happened in the world economy."

He suggested that what is needed is a government playing a role in encouraging the growth of the free market and that there be funds made available to companies which, in return, have to perform and compete on the international level. He said that in this way, the government would be interceding in the orientation of the market. Dev said that it was his belief that the government was shortsighted to follow the dictates of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He made the point that no country in the world has borrowed itself out of poverty. "We are cutting ourselves coming and going."

Turning to sugar, Dev decried the government's failure to strengthen the industry through diversification. "In sugar we have an asset which has been at the cutting edge of manufacturing. Why have we not diversified the sugar industry? I believe that the government has to heed the occurrences in Europe; we are exporting to Caricom at a loss. We have to look at what could be done for Guysuco today." And he said that although the expansion of the Skeldon Sugar Estate is a good thing, the government is not being totally honest about what will happen to the Demerara estates.

Minister of Education, Dr Henry Jeffrey conceded that the major challenge to the government is the development of a macro framework, without which Guyana would remain locked in poverty and not realise its potential.

He said that the World Bank and the IMF were invited to Guyana by the Hoyte administration and asked Dev to present an alternative plan for Guyana's future. He said that the government would be willing to peruse any plan that has as its intention taking Guyana forward.

Jeffrey made the point that he did not favour the arrangement of shared governance since he would not be willing to live in any country where 90% of the populace forms the government and there is hardly any discernible opposition.

In recognising that there is continued dissatisfaction over teachers' remuneration, Jeffrey said that the low salaries had nothing to do with policy and everything to do with the state of the economy.

Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Anthony Xavier said that the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD), which falls under the minister's purview, did not do that well last year due to the crime situation. But he said that the ministry has made significant progress in programmes for the maritime sector, in light of the security measures to be implemented from July 1.

In his projections for 2004, he noted that the carriageway of the Harbour Bridge is to be asphalted. At the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, US$1M will be applied to preparing new flight schedules for use with a geographical positioning system. He noted too a project for radar sharing between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

With regard to air traffic control the minister also referred to implementation of regulations for the international and other local airports. The ministry is also looking at completing the first phase of the Ogle Aerodrome that would involve constructing an 800-metre runway.

Xavier also mentioned continued work on sea defences along the coastal zone, quality control and social surveys among other things.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rudy Insanally noted that trade and commerce internationally have now been made harrowing by the measures put in place in the name of global security. He made the point that though Guyana has reached the completion point for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, Guyana is not "out of the woods" as yet. He stated that it is for this reason that Guyana has to make a case for continued special treatment when it comes to free trade.