Economy grew 5% - Jagdeo
-ministries for old GBC site
Stabroek News
December 29, 2006
President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday revealed that the government will erect a large building to house ministries at the site of the former Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) building at High Street and he also said that economic growth this year was around 5%.
At an end-of-year press conference he said that the growth was significantly higher than what the government had projected for the year, in spite of a number of unbudgeted expenses including higher spending on the general and regional elections and on security.
Stating that he was pleased with the performance of the economy, Jagdeo told the media at the Office of the President that the country has seen an increase in exports, an increase in central government revenue and a significant build-up of foreign currency holdings from last year to this year.
Though he did not want to go into details on the performance of the economy, he said that there was also a growth in credit to the private sector which was a good signal that people were interested in the development of the economy.
The inflation rate was low and the government was targeting around five per cent "which is excellent coming down from last year", he said, adding that it was "a big achievement in light of what is happening around the world. We have seen huge inflationary pressures in many parts of the world."
In a recent report the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had projected a 5% growth in GDP for Guyana for 2006, which compared favourably with about a four and three quarter per cent growth in GDP for countries in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries.
The Senior Advisor in the Western Hemisphere Department of the IMF, Christopher Towe, had said that the growth in the GDP of the LAC region, particularly in Guyana and the Eastern Caribbean was due to recovery from natural disasters and to the rise in activities in the construction industry as some countries prepare to host Cricket World Cup 2007.
President Jagdeo also disclosed that the government plans to put up a two-storey 60,000 sq ft structure at the site of the burnt-out GBC building to house ministries as well as other government offices. What is left of the building will be torn down. Jagdeo did not go into details about which ministries would be housed in the facility. He did, however, reveal plans for the relocation of the Human Services Ministry, which is currently located at Cornhill Street. He pointed out that the building is situated in a congested area that would lend itself more suitably to commercial activity than administering to needy people. Jagdeo said the government would sell such properties and use the revenue to build new facilities. In this regard, he said Human Services is a prime target.
The former GBC building has been empty since the merger of the GBC and GTV to form NCN saw the relocation of radio workers and equipment to Homestretch Avenue. Since then, there have been two fires at the site. The most recent occurred in September, resulting in damage to the roof of the building as well as its interior. Former broadcasters had expressed an interest in acquiring the building with external assistance, but they were told that they had to await a tender notice. Some others had urged that the facility be preserved as a national monument to local broadcasting.
Veteran broadcaster Denis Chabrol, among those who have urged the preservation of the facility, described the new plans as a tragedy. In an invited comment, he told Stabroek News that the government failed to recognise the value of the facility as a custom built studio. He felt that the building was replaced by something inferior.
He added that the facility could have been rehabilitated and sold to investors interested in a private radio station, especially in light of the government's continual pledge over the last 14 years to liberalise radio space.
Chabrol was also of the view that the government failed to appreciate the building's historical significance. Although the GBC was officially inaugurated in 1979, the facility has been in use since 1955, when Radio Demerara was relocated to the professionally built studios.
Following the September fire, veteran broadcaster Ron Robinson had also urged that the facility be preserved as a monument to local broadcasting. (Miranda La Rose and Andre Haynes)