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The A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), in a press statement, blasts Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo for recent statements made by him pertaining to the cash grants and contends said statements reflect the Government’s attitude towards the poor and struggling families. At the same time the Opposition proposes a coalition government will treat citizens better. According to the coalition “our measures will not be stingy, one-off, and sporadic as currently the case under the PPP, ….[it] will be based on the principle that Guyana’s oil wealth belongs to all Guyanese and they must enjoy a higher quality of life.”
The Opposition full statement follows-
At the recent National Toshaos Conference, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced with immense pride that the PPP government will increase old age pension and the school children cash grant by $7,000 and $10,000 respectively by 2025. This announcement completely exposes to the entire nation the PPP’s contempt for the lower classes and its indifference towards lifting their living standards. These cash grants will not impact the high cost of living and the high level of poverty in Guyana.
The proposed increases are contemptible even if granted tomorrow, let alone by 2025. They are totally inadequate to improve the standard of living of any Guyanese family. Worse, Jagdeo’s stingy promise is made even more meaningless when one considers that rising cost of living will eat up much of the paltry increases.
But this is the pittance the PPP government is promising the Guyanese lower classes over the next two years. Despite billions of dollars in oil wealth, tens of thousands of families will continue to live below the poverty line if the PPP remains in office. Moreover, the number of middle-class households will continue to stagnate or shrink, while PPP cronies will continue to roll in riches. Clearly, the PPP is comfortable serving its elite families, friends and favourites. This is the PPP’s approach to development. On behalf of the Guyanese people, we in the Opposition reject this. Under a coalition government, Guyana can and will do better!
In contrast to the PPP, we will ensure every Guyanese household is guaranteed a MINIMUM LIVABLE INCOME (MLI). No matter where in Guyana you live, or the size of your household, or its composition by age, the next coalition government will ensure every household lives well above the poverty line and enjoy economic security and prosperity.
A coalition government will ensure that all households live safely above the MLI – through policies that (i) create good paying jobs, (ii) increase wages, salaries, and pensions, (iii) abolish personal income tax for low-level jobs, (iv) reduce the cost of living, (v) provide targeted cash grants, such as for childcare allowance, (vi) provide subsidies and waivers, such as for utility payments, (v) provide nutrition support for families, inclusive of a two-hot-meals-day school feeding program, (vii) provide rent assistance, (viii) provide grants and soft loans for small businesses, (ix) provide opportunities for Guyanese to invest and achieve financial self-empowerment. Our approach is to improve the quality of life of the Guyanese people.
Our measures will not be stingy, one-off, and sporadic as currently the case under the PPP. Our approach will be based on the principle that Guyana’s oil wealth belongs to all Guyanese and they must enjoy a higher quality of life. Guaranteeing livable incomes to all households is therefore i) the moral obligation of any proper government, ii) the human rights of citizens to a high quality of life, and iii) an investment in improving human resources for national economic growth and development.
