Jagdeo – more than a decade of achievements

Dear Editor,

President Bharrat Jagdeo has stated that when he demits office later this year, he would do so with the satisfaction of having achieved a lot for Guyanese. In actual fact, the president is being modest, quite modest. Those achievements are nothing short of staggering.

Mr Jagdeo assumed office at a time of great turmoil in Guyana. That was the time when those who wanted “slow fiaah, mo fiaah” were rampant on the streets of Georgetown; when indeed a dangerous spectre was haunting the land. The young president came to office and immediately set about to strengthen the security sector, a project that would take years before it was finally built out.

The president worked hard to deepen the professionalisation of the police force and to shore up the Guyana Defence Force.

Mr Jagdeo brought to bear his prodigious economic acumen to the Office of the President. Upon assuming office, he was keen on not only deepening the economic gains of Presidents Cheddi and Janet Jagan, but also to map out a long-term strategic plan to leapfrog development hurdles.

The president did the following in this regard: – (1) instil confidence in the private sector so that the process of domestic capital formation would be accelerated; (2) encourage the private sector to take greater investment risks outside of the traditional commercial sector; (3) adopt monetary and fiscal policies that would bolster investor confidence and bring fiscal stability to state finances; (4) embark on the building of development infrastructure while at the same time broadening and deepening the human security of families; and (5) produce an overarching plan that would integrate the domestic resources of the country with developments in the global political economy.

The last of these resulted in the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), an innovative development plan that sought to leverage the country’s tropical rain forests on the international front. The result was an agreement with Norway in which Guyana would be able to continue sustainable forestry development while simultaneously directing LCDS financial resources to further sustainable initiatives.

The mammoth hydro-electric project at Amaila Falls is the signature product of that strategy. When the project is completed, the Guyanese economy would move towards energy sufficiency, a factor that would lower production costs for electricity. The impact of this for both industry and consumers would be far- reaching.

Most governments are faced with the trade-off between immediate consumption benefits to the citizenry, on the one hand, and longer-term investment functions, on the other.

President Jagdeo has faced this enduring problem of political economy by delivering a wide range of tangible deliverables to the Guyanese population, without sacrificing infrastructural development.

The list is too long to enumerate, but as Harry Gill recently noted, even a casual observer travelling around can see a country being built.

Importantly, homeownership is now a reality for the working class of Guyana. More than that, thousands upon thousands of Guyanese who hitherto had been locked out of ownership are now on the way to building long-term equity for their families.

It is important to remember that the developments noted above have all taken place in the context of a global economic meltdown. The world knows that the collapse of the mortgage-backed security market, coupled with the spectacular implosion of derivative hedging, pushed the global economy to a point not seen since the 1930s.

Millions of Americans lost their homes, and millions more are still unemployed.

The devastation left the borders of America and spread to nations far and wide. Even today, countries such as Ireland, which was once the pin-up of the new (ideas- based) neo- liberal economy, are still coming to grips with their sudden downfall.

Greece, Spain and Portugal are tottering on the brink, and have all succumbed to the harsh dictates of the International Monetary Fund.

Much the same is true of Caribbean economies, including Barbados, the traditional exemplar of deft economic management.

Regrettably, these are the economies with versions of the ERP, not Guyana.

Guyana is now poised to move forward. The foreign debt has been cut in half; the foreign reserves over US$900 million; state finances are aligned; major projects are on the ground; and commerce is at an all-time high.

Most of all, President Jagdeo has established a master plan of action, a plan devised for all Guyanese.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Randy Persaud