Guyana is celebrating a milestone of 50 years of Independence, and much reflection has to be done on where we are as a developing country and where we would like to see ourselves another 50 years from now. Surely, the ubiquitous affirmation would be for us to transcend our status of a “developing” country and through prudent, holistic micro and macro governance, collaborations with the Private Sector and international financing institutions ascend to the ranks of “developed” countries. One of the definitive pillars that would invariably assist in the promulgation…
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Energy Security
President David Granger represented Guyana at the 2nd US-Caribbean-Central American Energy Summit, hosted by Vice President Joe Biden in Washington on May 3-4. The first Summit last year emphasised the need for energy security through the substitution of renewables for petroleum products for energy development. Even with current low oil prices, electricity prices in Guyana – as in the rest of the Caribbean – average over US$0.25 per kWh, about three to four times more than what is paid in the US or other developed countries. This high cost of…
Read MorePharma Procurement muddle
“Sole sourcing” is the procuring of supplies without any bidding process to ensure that the most competitive prices are secured. In the less than one year it has been in office, the APNU/AFC government has repeatedly “sole sourced” pharmaceuticals – the sin it had falsely criticised the previous regime of practicing. Previously in our health sector, medicines and medical supplies were procured through two mechanisms: open bidding and bidding by pre-qualified suppliers. The latter was recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Bank for comprehensive country purchases so…
Read MoreThe Prime Minister and the media
This newspaper has noted Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo’s objection to its article of 4-19-16 headlined, “US media censorship observation – PM claims US wants to damage image of coalition”. The day before, on 4-18-16, the newspaper had received the US State Department’s 2016 Human Rights Report that was issued by Secretary of State John Kerry just days before. As it related to Press Freedom in Guyana, the Report stated: “Censorship or Content Restrictions: In August, the Prime Minister issued a directive that all headlines in the State-owned print media be…
Read MoreThat Code of Conduct
The APNU/AFC coalition has become embroiled in several controversies – manufactured or not – which to a large extent are self-inflicted and could have been avoided if they had their promised “Code of Conduct” in place. When the two parties were in Opposition, they were very strident in their denunciations of the actions of PPP/C Ministers, MPs and officials in the latter’s performance of their duties. They argued quite cogently that what was needed was a “Code of Conduct” with “teeth” so that there would be clear guidelines for the…
Read MoreIntegrity and governance
The A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition, while campaigning for the 2015 General and Regional Elections, promised to deliver to Guyanese “clean and lean governance” with specific emphasis on promoting high levels of transparency, accountability and integrity once they won those elections. From time to time, senior coalition partners were heard chastising the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government for its arrogance, excessiveness and failure to listen as well as respond effectively to the needs of the populace. They were heard demonising the Government in…
Read MoreThe State under Burnham
The State was invented to stand between man and the law of the jungle. But one of its early conceptualisers called it a “Leviathan”, a very large animal that could literally devour men. For the present generation, the most startling revelation coming out of the Rodney CoI has to be the subversion by the PNC regime of the State as an entity that did start to devour our people, Rodney being only the most famous, at the behest of the “Comrade Leader”, Forbes Burnham. The subversion began when the 1968…
Read MoreThe Guyanese Diaspora
Governments all over the world, especially in countries where there are high rates of migration, have sought to explore ways in which they can tap into the resources, both human and financial, acquired by their citizens over the years in their adopted countries. In fact, there are many countries that have successfully taken advantage of this important resource, such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, China, etc. In fact, development partners are developing Diaspora engagement strategies because they can no longer ignore the potential value of this important source…
Read MoreRunning on empty
Many empty promises, a dearth of innovativeness and a void of meaningful policies can characterise the current Administration in office here in Guyana. The result is what everyone from a cleaner to a commissioner can recognise as the stagnation of our economy. Knee-jerk reactions to occurring situations, fulfilling political sponsorship obligations, along with a determined push to ensure taxes are collected for the national treasury – perhaps to afford the Government’s bloated salaries – appear to be the priority of the coalition Government that leaves Guyana with an empty treasury…
Read MoreA return to party paramountcy?
During the Budget debate, one member of the PPP/C raised the issue of the Government painting State institutions with the colours of the APNU/AFC coalition. This tendency of the coalition to deploy its colours at State functions had been noted as far back as the inauguration of President David Granger when, not only was the stage decked out in yellow and green but so were even the ceremonial bouquets that were placed at the Independence Arch. This “coalition branding” has been replicated at countless occasions, but when the PPP/C MP…
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