Unbridled attacks on Jagdeo reflective of opposition’s bitterness

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo

The continued unbridled obsession by opposition members, backed by the principals of the Stabroek and Kaieteur newspapers, on Bharrat Jagdeo, has resulted in several inaccurate and vindictive articles attacking the former president, leading many in civil society to conclude that they are hinged on personal vendettas and envy, and aimed at destroying Guyana’s path of continued development.
Kaieteur News publisher Glenn Lall has led the way in the continued malicious and personal attacks on the former president and members of his family. Lall has published daily columns and numerous articles attacking the former president. Further, the newspaper continues to publish photos of Jagdeo’s private property, compromising his security and that of members of his family.
A recent article in the mud-slinging tabloid Kaieteur News quoted Nigel Hughes questioning Jagdeo’s acquisition of land, which the former president paid 10 times more than what other citizens pay for houselots.
The Stabroek News, led by its Editor-in-Chief Anand Persaud, has consistently given prominent editorial coverage to opposition members Nigel Hughes, Khemraj Ramjattan, Moses Nagamootoo and Carl Greenidge to vilify Jagdeo, attacking his pension which he would have earned through his years of service as a public servant, finance minister and, most importantly, president of Guyana.

APNU MP Carl Greenidge

The Alliance For Change (AFC) and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) backed by these two opposition-friendly newspapers have attempted to block the pension benefits which Jagdeo is entitled to, which the other former presidents of Guyana enjoy.
One prominent academic at the University of Guyana said he is alarmed at the sustained personal attacks on Jagdeo. “For someone who served Guyana with distinction and has been recognised internationally, their criticisms smack of bitterness, vindictiveness and excessive fixation on the former president, especially given that he has continued to make significant strides on the global stage even after his presidency,” he stated.

Presidency
Jagdeo was president of Guyana from 1999 to 2011. At the time of his appointment, he was only 35 years old, making him one of the youngest ever heads of state in the world.
He led Guyana from a less developed, highly indebted poor country to one with a thriving economy and growing middle class, achieving unparalleled debt reduction and write-off internationally. He placed Guyana at the pinnacle of global leadership and his lasting legacy is as a head of state who revolutionised not only the approach to development for poor countries, but also economic solutions to the global problems they face.
Today, Jadgeo has undoubtedly become the most internationally acclaimed president of Guyana, and his many international awards and recognition have made Guyanese at home and abroad proud of these accomplishments.
He was conferred with an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom on December 4, and has received similar awards from the Patrice Lumumba University, Russia; DY Patil University, India; and TERI University, also in India.
Jadgeo was chair of the board of directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank from 2005 to 2006. He was named among the inaugural Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Besides chairing the Caribbean Community (Caricom) on several occasions, he was pro-tempore president of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in 2008.
He was named by Times Magazine as one of the Heroes of the Environment in 2008; by the UN as Champion of the Earth in 2010; and by the UN secretary general as a high level envoy for Sustainable Development in Forest Conservation.
He received the prestigious Pushkin Medal from the government of Russia; the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from the government of India, and was named a roving ambassador for the Three Basins – Amazon, Congo, and South East Asia – by heads of state from countries with rainforests.
Jagdeo served on the UN’s Advisory Group on Climate Finance which was mandated to create a mechanism to raise US$100 billion annually by 2020, and was named the first chair of the Global Green Growth Institute in November 2012.

Low Carbon Development Strategy
Under Jagdeo’s leadership, Guyana is pursuing a Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), under which the country is committed to preserving its rainforests. Guyana has introduced a new kind of service to the world – the sale of carbon credit – a revolutionary approach to development which benefits Guyana and the rest of the world.
In his final term as president, Jagdeo became a global advocate for international action to avert the worst extremes of climate change, and was described by chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Dr R K Pachauri as one of perhaps half a dozen heads of government who truly understand the issue.
In line with Jagdeo’s global advocacy, Guyana’s LCDS sets out a national scale replicable model to protect Guyana’s 18 million hectare of forests, to address the 17 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions that result from deforestation and forest degradation, and re-orient the Guyanese economy into a long-term low deforestation, low carbon, climate resilient trajectory.
As part of building this global model, Norway is partnering with Guyana to provide up to US$250 million, by 2015, for avoided greenhouse gas emissions from Guyana’s forest. Guyana is using these payments and domestic resources to attract private investment to opportunities in clean energy and new low carbon economic activities, as well as to make significant public investment in other social and economic priority areas. Guyana has already earned $US115 million in the last three years.

AFC MP Moses Nagamootoo

Among the benefits from these earnings are the Amaila Falls Hydroelectricity Plant, the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) initiative, solar panels for hinterland homes, the Cunha Canal, titling of Amerindian lands, and secure livelihood programmes for indigenous communities.

Fiscal sustainability
Perhaps his greatest achievement is his management of Guyana’s debt and enhancement of fiscal sustainability. When he became finance minister in 1993, Guyana’s debt was one of the worst in the world and the country was ranked one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.
At the time, Guyana owed a total of more than $US2.1 billion, or more than 750 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the worst debt burden in Caricom and one of the worst in the world. By the time he demitted office as president in 2011, Guyana’s debt stood at less than US$1 billion, and was only 47 per cent of GDP, currently, still the best in the Caribbean. Jagdeo transformed the management of Guyana’s debt burden from using 94 per cent of national income for debt servicing to less than 17 per cent by 2011.
The country’s fiscal deficit was more than 51 per cent of GDP when he became finance minister. As president, Jagdeo insisted that high fiscal deficit was suffocating Guyana’s development and squandering Guyana’s future. When he left office, fiscal deficit was reduced to below five per cent of GDP.
With international reserves hanging in the red in 1992, Guyana boasted a balance of US$780 million in foreign currency reserves in 2011.

Continuous growth
Guyana’s GDP, which stood at about US$300 per capita in 1964, was higher than that of Barbados, but by 1992 when the PPP/C administration won elections, the country had the lowest GDP among its Caribbean counterparts.
In 1992, Guyana’s per capita GDP was about US$250, and by 2011, US$2900. Jagdeo, therefore, played a major leadership role in managing Guyana’s economic growth from 1993 to 2011, both as finance minister and president.
In those 19 years, Guyana recorded positive growth in 15 of them, while from 1985 to 1992, there was continued negative growth in six of those years. These statistics show that Jagdeo placed Guyana firmly on the path to economic growth.
Since 2006, Guyana’s growth rate has been between 2.3 and seven per cent, an achievement no other Caricom country managed, as these were the years of global economic recession.

Foreign direct investment
Between 1981 and 1992, average annual Foreign Direct Investment FDI was US$2.6 million. Under Jagdeo’s administration, FDI reached some US$700 million in 2011. He therefore successfully led Guyana’s effort to attract foreign investment and enhanced the country’s fiscal sustainability, growth and stability.
The Amaila Falls Hydro Project and the Marriott Hotel initiative will stand as testimony to his effort of bringing more investors to Guyana, as the Berbice River Bridge is today.

Privatisation
Under the Forbes Burnham People’s National Congress (PNC)-led administration, state agencies and corporations had become symbols of mismanagement, corruption and inefficiency under a nationalisation programme that saw heavy handed government control and dictatorship.
The PPP/C, however, embarked on a systematic privatisation of government-run entities, which has seen them return to profitability. Jagdeo led the change of the mechanism for privatisation from a closed-door, non-transparent and flawed process to one of openness and accountability.
In 1993, as finance minister, Jagdeo piloted a privatisation policy framework through the establishment of the privatisation unit. All privatisation initiatives were made public through annual reports and were subject to annual audits.
As president, Jagdeo attracted the involvement of Guyanese entrepreneurs in the privatisation programme and the benefits of the country’s economic growth resulted in a vibrant private sector.
This further enhanced production, productivity, technology and efficiency by allowing market forces to dictate economic activity. There was also greater investor confidence evidenced by foreign direct and indirect investment in Guyana’s economy and increased private/public sector and local/overseas partnerships.
The Jagdeo-led PPP/C’s privatisation programme reduced administrative burdens on government, allowing for the administration’s role more as regulator and facilitator, rather than competitor, in the local economy.
Under Jagdeo, success stories of government’s privatisation initiative resulted in tremendous expansion in the private sector, the use of new and improved technology in business and industry, the stimulation of growth in the economy, and the realisation of savings by government for further investment.
Further, Jagdeo’s economic policies produced increased employment opportunities in Guyana, reduced consumer cost and an enhanced competitive business environment.