Flawed budget fails to address basic issues - Teixeira
The proposed 2018 national budget is “fundamentally flawed” and fails to address basic issues, opposition parliamentarian Gail Teixeira argued on Wednesday, while also accusing the government of “crowding out” the private sector.
Armed with statements and reports from unions and private sector organisations, Teixeira presented to the National Assembly what she called evidence that the government has not garnered the public support of “legitimate stakeholders” for the 2018 budget.
She read excerpts from documents written by groups, including the Guyana Trades Union Congress, the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) and the Ram and McRae accounting firm.
“…Unfortunately, the proof is in the pudding and the ordinary people remain downtrodden and sliding into a state of despondency. The two major and the only two workers’ federations in this country that represent all the unionised and organised workers in this country do not support this budget. The three major organisations that represent the business community have major concerns and disappointment and a lack of trust in what’s going on in this budget,” she said.
Teixeira stated that the budget fails to address the “fundamental issues,” such as reliable telecommunications, energy and road transportation.
She stated that although the government has spent hundreds of millions since entering office, Guyanese have not seen the benefits or the legacies, “other than with D’Urban Park, which is falling apart.”
Teixeira said that the government has shown disregard for income and wealth inequality as serious issues, and for that reason, does not cater for such in the budget allocations.
She charged that there is a “fundamental and philosophical” difference between how the APNU+AFC government and the PPP see development, while stating that the former focuses on taxation as a means of revenue production. The role of the government, she said, is to be that of enabler and facilitator.
She opined that the APNU+AFC policies have only managed to reverse the country’s fortunes by bringing an end to the sugar industry and negatively impacting the mining sector and referred to its policies as an antiquated and myopic development model of the 1970s and 1980s.
“Gods of Small Things” Teixeira argued that the government