…Jagdeo tells Diaspora in Canada
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo is currently on an outreach to the Canadian Diaspora where he told the overseas-based Guyanese about the hardships facing the country.
Jagdeo was at the time joined by Danny Doobay, former Honorary Consul General to Canada, Mani Singh of the Association of Canadian Guyanese (ACG), and Member of Parliament Irfaan Ali.
The activity, which was hosted by the ACG, heard the Opposition Leader’s dim report on the Guyana economy, which is being compounded by a rapid loss of jobs across traditional sectors and with little hope to be gleaned from the emerging oil and gas sectors.
“Few are expecting the promise of new oil revenues to trickle down to the average Guyanese. More likely, as already seen with this Administration, the benefits will accrue to a select few…The model is already in place and one does not have to look far for examples of this works. Just look at Members of Parliament salaries, which have doubled – while ordinary Guyanese come under increasing economic strain,” Jagdeo told the Toronto-based section of the Guyanese Diaspora.
The Opposition Leader in his outreach reported that ever since President David Granger took office in 2015, 25,000 jobs have been lost – a situation compounded by the introduction of 200 new taxes.
“Guyanese people of all stripes, religion or ethnicity are bearing the brunt of the hardships brought on by an administration with no realistic vision and no strategic economic plan… Instead, they use meaningless slogans…these slogans are devoid of any substantive definition as to what they mean, and are unsupported by policy underpinnings to make them reality.”
According to Jagdeo, “from the time the Granger Administration took over, Guyana has regressed”. He told the ACG, “While it has always been recognised that Guyana has the natural physical potential to allow all Guyanese to achieve a measure of prosperity… that great promise of the future is regretfully now slipping away – even in the face of developments in the oil and gas sector.”
The former President told Guyanese living in Canada that President Granger failed to see or be concerned with the people side of the equation.
“The industry sectors are not single companies or single plants, where closure, albeit painful, can be contained. Entire communities – families and the country’s social well-being – depend on the jobs in each of these segments.”
He told the gathering, “not only is President Granger blind to the social cost of neglecting these industries in the form of broken families, increased crime etc, he also fails to recognise the economic impact in increased social payments by the Government, reduced income taxes to the treasury and loss of other essential services now provided by these industries – services such as the upkeep of infrastructure or clearage of drains and canals without which entire communities would be flooded.”
He said the President offered up petroleum as the “transformative” magic bullet; however, while oil was indeed another pillar in Guyana’s promise, the industry would only create 1000 direct and indirect jobs locally, compared to the 25,000 jobs that have already been lost under this Administration.
