“Put country first” – Dr. Vindhya Persaud exhorts opposition – during Budget Debate

In a fiery, rousing presentation in the National Assembly on Wednesday evening, PPP/C Member of Parliament Dr. Vindhya Persaud hammered the Opposition for their dismissal of the national budget and called on the members of the National Assembly to put the country and people first.
“Let us remove the taint of 2012 of being a Parliament which achieved more battles and walkouts, spent too much on food and sittings, where the outcomes were decided long before the debate, where hatchets and scissors were wielded willy nilly…Guyanese people expect more,” she said.

The penultimate speaker on Day One of the 2013 Budget Debate, Dr. Persaud waded into the Opposition swiftly and concisely, leaving little room for the traditional heckling responses to the short, sharp and cutting denunciations she made of their intent towards rejecting the 2013 Budget.
“To slyly or unequivocally denounce this budget, and the development which has ensued under this Government, is to be like the Emperor who paraded naked because he was ashamed to express what was!” she declared.
The PPP/C MP referred to the much touted call by the Opposition of accountability for the use of taxpayers’ money. “We talk about concern for tax-payers’ money – have we shown any when we slashed and negated bills and monies because we want to illustrate that we can?  Only to have the same return again as supplementaries which may be condescendingly granted or not, at more sittings- tax-payers again bear the brunt.  The budget and bills of Government are fundamentally flawed because you see it as theirs, not ours is the cry- yet we bring the same things as ours (that side-the opposition) and it is fine,” she said referring to the Firearms Amendment Bill recently rejected by the Opposition.
Dr. Persaud also slammed the use of the one-seat opposition parliamentary majority as a ‘bragging right’ and urged that Budget 2013 be allowed to usher in a change of that posture and not be used “to de-construct a good budget.”
In her support of the National Budget Dr. Persaud observed that it caters to Guyanese of every strata in a holistic manner. “Budget 2013 …espouses its theme through the provision of benefits and support starting at the family level and working its way through communities and country; it has responded to the needs of the changing dynamics of our society, the widening middle class, the increasing number of young professionals, the accelerated expansion of communities through the highly successful housing drive and alleviating the burdens of the poor (this is substantiated by IMF and World Bank),” she declared.
The Government MP explained that young people, working  people and young professionals across the country, through the Budget, have been given the incentive to own their own homes, “through the innovative tax deductible scheme towards mortgages and the removal of property tax for homes below Gy$40M , to develop their skills in Information Communication Technology, have access to the world of information and opportunities beyond the confines of Guyana through ownership of laptops and internet access, recognise their dreams through the sound development of educational strategy, facilities and infrastructure and not to mention the encouragement of micro-enterprise and business property ownership.”
She emphasised that the budget does not discriminate in any regard but encourages each Guyanese not to simply dream and dream big, but, to make that dream a reality and to live in a Guyana geared for the future.
Dr. Persaud called on the Parliamentary Opposition to approach the 2013 Budget “with maturity and reason- with the goal of empowering and providing for all Guyanese – a commitment my colleagues and I share on this side of the house – and not with the heady power of a one seat majority which will be wielded to carve and hack away at the benefits and relief offered by budget 2013. To approach the debate with that mindset, clouded with political partisanship, personal issues and agendas, is tantamount to impeding growth and starving the nation- starving its children, abandoning its people and neglecting our sugar workers.”
She warned of a repeat of 2012 and the effects of the Budget cuts then, which were made “acrimoniously with little regard to the long-term and far reaching impact that it had on the lives of young people, women and children, the elderly, the indigenous people – every Guyanese…because of those cuts- projects and programmes were halted and people suffered.
We are Parliamentarians yes, but we must be humanitarians first- the welfare of our people must be foremost in our minds”
Dr. Persaud urged that 2013 be a year of change in the approach to the budget and in all Parliamentary issues for the interest of the Guyanese people.
She described the Budget as one that touches many lives and provides relief to many. “It a budget which has reached out and shown the Government’s seriousness about reducing taxes, adding to the basket of the underprivileged and elderly. It shows that Government is conscious of the single parent who has to provide for her home and children and knows that the young professional wants to own his/her own home and  be unencumbered by tax and that none of us (sitting right here) wants to pay higher electricity rates…Let us be practical, let us be real and admit we can only spend what we have and that movement has been made by the Government each year to improve living standards and cushion all Guyanese from the impact of the unpredictable Global financial hardships which have caused deficits in growth of the developed countries,” she pleaded and pointed to the increasing economic growth achieved by Guyana.
She called on APNU MP Carl Greenidge not to dismiss the Budget, “please don’t, like you dismissed the Guysuco as a black hole …. A reduction of personal income tax from 33% to 30% which can be coupled with last year’s rise in the non-taxable threshold to Gy$50,000. The taxpayers who are taking home the collective sum of 1.8 B will not dismiss it! How can you?”
Dr. Persaud outlined other measures contained in this year’s budget including the mortgage relief, reduction in property tax, housing development and subsidies along with allocations for the development of the key sectors of health and education.
“Let us open our eyes and see what this budget offers to all…the chance to save, to be sheltered, to be fed , to be well educated, to be empowered and to live with dignity that in the past had been removed,” Dr. Persaud urged earnestly.
She called on all parliamentarians to “work together to overcome the challenges, refrain from negative shadows as we walk towards the horizon of accelerating gains which all can enjoy. Budgets have come and gone, but Minister of Finance, I think you and your staff have created the dynamics for a refreshing and interesting debate. Congratulations.”