There are endless ways to spend that oil money
Guyanese have not benefited from a single dollar earned by the sale of their ‘profit oil’ to date, as the money was locked away from her citizens in a foreign bank; this is no longer the case, and it is time for the Irfaan Ali administration to spend that money, for the benefit of Guyanese. I make the following suggestions to ring in the New Year, and make 2022 a truly happy one. The PPP promised a school grant of $50,000; let’s give each school child that amount, and double the uniform grant to $8000. President Ali restored the grant (that was discontinued by David Granger’s APNU+AFC) to $15000, without oil money; this would cost approximately 55M USD. I do hope that when all the boards and committees, tasked with administering and oversight of the ‘oil money’ are created, that they consider doubling, or quadrupling, the schoolchildren’s grant.
Pensioners should benefit from the ‘oil money’ too; the increase to $25,000 monthly and the restoration of water subsidy has alleviated hardship, but does not go far enough, in my opinion. Let’s double that pension, Mr. President! Get your analysts at the Finance Ministry to present this cost to the NRF Board of Directors on the day of their appointment. Tempus Fugit, more so for the elderly and vulnerable. All Guyanese will benefit from the various infrastructure projects in train; the new Demerara Harbour Bridge, Amaila Falls Hydro etc. but I would suggest that we can invest 150M USD into the Ogle-Diamond bypass road that is inexplicably stalled, and is not adequately funded (50m USD Government of India grant). The majority of our population will benefit from this infrastructural project, and the opening of new lands along the highway will fuel an economic boom instantaneously.
There are endless ways to spend the ‘oil money for the direct benefit of Guyanese: for example, I do hope a fund for machinery/equipment for small contractors who have won government contracts can be considered. I also wish those who are talking about making ‘investments’ would just shut up! Guyanese need to benefit from their money; investments in stocks and bonds, as being discussed by those in civil society, are an investment in other countries’ growth, not our own. I urge all Guyanese to make our voices heard on how we can help each other to benefit from our oil monies, now that it is no longer locked away in the American Federal Reserve, and we have access to it. Here’s to wishing us all a Happy New Year!
Sincerely, Robin Singh