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Today the National Assembly begins the debates on the 2024 National Budget. The $1.146 trillion budget is the largest in the nation’s history.
The budget has attracted widespread criticism for failure to combat poverty in a structured manner, provide meaningfully improvement in the quality of life for ordinary citizens and the failure of infrastructural capability and capability to management capital expenditures, opening wider the floodgates for corruption.
Region 10 Chairman Deron Adams issued a blistering critique of the budgetary allocation for his region and blasted the government for ignoring the development needs and voice of the people on issues that matter to them.
He pointed out that the Budget failed to take into consideration development initiatives to benefit ALL of the people of our Region, not just a select few as some would have it.
In a statement, the Regional Democratic Council not only expressed its disappointment that people’s needs were again needs were again ignored but drew attention to the marginalizing of residents’ calls for specific development input important to them.
Adams said one of the region’s biggest disappointments is the refusal of the government to fund the construction of a new headquarters for the Region 10 Regional Democratic Council. The region has being pushing for better accommodation to allow for the staff to work in safe and hygienic environment, given the current space is decrepit.
He also lamented in the trillion dollar budget the government provided only $30 million of Capital expenditure for the execution of development work in Region over the amount budgeted in 2023. “To put this in perspective, a sector as important as Agriculture has only received a $7 million increase this year, in the face of inflation and so many price increases over the past year,” he stated.
He also highlighted a positive of the budget which will sees allocation of money for the construction of a secondary school constructed at Wiruni for children residing in communities along the Berbice River. This Adams noted came as a result of three years of advocacy.
Region 10 is a stronghold of the opposition, People’s National Congress Reform, and has face the brunt of government discriminatory policies.
Region 10 full statement follows:
The Regional Democratic Council of Region 10 is disappointed that the needs of the people of Region 10 are again ignored by the government through their refusal to fund their implementation in the 2024 budget. As always, the so called biggest budget ever, continues to deny real development for the people of this Region by simply marginalizing the calls of our residents for specific development input that is important to those of us who live here.
I’m aware that these views will be dismissed by government sympathisers as simply criticisms motivated by politics, but as the elected representatives of the people of this Region we interact with our constituents, we live the daily reality of life in these communities and we represent the views and needs of our people when we call for these specific projects. This is why their denial in Budget 2024 is so disappointing, because these development initiatives benefit ALL of the people of our Region, not just a select few as some would have it.
One of our biggest disappointments is the refusal of the government to fund the construction of a new headquarters for the Regional Democratic Council of Region 10. This is definitely an untenable decision, since every justification exists why no employee should be forced to work in this current building. We commend our staff for putting up with the most horrific of conditions to serve the people of Region 10, and apologise to our residents for putting them at serious risk for harm every time they come to do business at the RDC.
Regardless of political affiliation, our staff are forced to work in a building that has been deemed a fire hazard by the Guyana Fire Service. That is a fact. Some sections of this building are crumbling and are so dangerous that it is only by avoiding going into some spaces that accidents are avoided. That is a fact.
Our employees also occupy a building that poses serious risks to their health, with human feces from the septic system backing up ever so often into their office spaces, and only addressed by cleaning and disinfecting the areas before employees are required to return to these same areas, to sit in these spaces for hours each day to do their tasks, without addressing the root cause of the issue. This is what we mean when we say that the 2024 Budget ignores the direct needs of the people of Region 10, and as Chairman of this Council I will continue to fight for the right of our employees to work in safe and hygienic workspaces and I know that all of our Councilors support this position and will continue to do so.
This trillion dollar budget that was announced contained an increase of only $30 million dollars of Capital expenditure for the execution of development work in Region 10 over the amount budgeted in 2023. To put this in perspective, a sector as important as Agriculture has only received a $7 million increase this year, in the face of inflation and so many price increases over the past year.
It is unfortunate that this so called increase still does not address the call of the people of sub-region 2 to benefit from the services of agriculture extension services, supported by the RDC’s proposal to construct accommodation for these officers at Wiruni, a mid-point community along the Berbice river. With all of the hype surrounding the President’s visit to this community and the promises made to support development in these areas, it is disheartening to realise that true development in this sector in which so many Berbice River residents are engaged will not benefit from Budget 2024 as requested.
However we are happy that after three years of calls by the RDC to have a secondary school constructed at Wiruni for the people residing in these communities along the Berbice River, the President has finally seen fit to acknowledge our call and commit to the construction of this facility. If true and meaningful consultation is had with the local government officials elected by the people of this Region by the government, this input would have been had three years ago, but we will continue to provide robust representation for the needs of our constituents all across the 6,555 square miles of Region 10.
While the Council has performance indicators and other criteria that guide our development programme, residents are usually of the view that the physical projects executed and the visible engagements to provide improvements for our people; these are the projects that address bread and butter issues for us all, and this is what they relate to. What is of serious concern is not only their funding and execution, but the ability of our residents to bid for an receive their fair share of engagement in this process to earn from their tax dollars being put to work on these projects, and also the quality of work provided on these projects. Your RDC has over the years mounted a rigorous programme of monitoring of the execution of our projects that resulted in contractors on drainage projects in 3rd Alley for instance having to address faulty work. The collapse of drains at Silvertown was flagged, several road projects attracted our attention including the road at Yuriballi Street, Retrieve.
I raise this to point out that with these projects falling under the purview of the RDC, we held the contractors to account. What we have observed though is that to stifle our involvement, the Public Infrastructure budget of the RDC has been steadily reduced and these roads shifted to be executed under the Ministry of Public Works. All of Linden and Region 10 is already aware of the result of this policy, with contracts being awarded to contractors who are not only incapable of executing this work properly, but who also utilize inferior materials and methods that result in serious problems for residents living in the vicinity of these projects.
Of the Capital road projects we requested to be funded in budget 2024, the RDC has only received $79 million in funding. We will continue to represent the need for the construction of roads which we had requested in this budget but were not approved, and we will undertake to partner with you as residents of these communities to ensure that whenever they are funded, we hold the contractors accountable for the best possible level of work on these projects.
Living in the hilly sand and clay Region as we do, residents of Region 10 also have a special appreciation for the importance of drainage systems to guide runoff in an appropriate manner, since the penalty for ignoring this important developmental input is severe erosion that could destroy homes and businesses in a very short time. Our declared policy of budgeting for drains before, or in consonance with roads, continues to be ignored by the government, with 2024 only seeing the provision of $39 million for drainage work, rather than the over $300 million in essential drainage work we had identified and requested. This means that drains such as those along the road from the roundabout at Dr. Haynes’ house to the Teacher’s Quarters in Amelia’s Ward will continue to feel the effects of erosion and deteriorate again after more money is expended on its rehabilitation to fix its currently impassable state.
With respect to our focus on education, I want to state at the outset, that when the RDC stood in the breach to represent the interests of our residents on the issue of the ill-advised award of the construction of the Bamia Primary School, this position was taken after careful consideration and with several long term considerations in mind.
Every year that this project remains on the RDC’s budget beyond its planned completion date of July 2022 robs the Region of at least $100 million dollars of structured input into our education sector. As the funds for this project is rolled over into 2024, our education budget, which should have been increased by at least this amount, remains bloated by this sum which should have been expended more than a year ago.
This project, like the others proposed by the Council such as work on the Christianburg Wismar Multilateral School, the Amelia’s Ward Primary School 3rd Phase and the Wisroc Primary School are extremely welcome even if they are approved under other heads such as the Ministry of Education. However, we will remain vigilant and speak out against the awarding of these contracts to under-qualified companies simply as rewards for political support of the government. What is important to us is the efficient and effective use of our tax dollars and national patrimony to provide these services for the people of Region 10, and we will continue to work in lockstep with our residents to demand that this is obtained.
I would want to leave our listeners with those thoughts for consideration when persons are praising Budget 2024. In the face of all of the increases we have experienced in cost of living over the past year, the RDC has received a total of twenty thousand dollars as the increase given for 6291 – National and Other Events, which takes care of activities such as Mashramani, Emancipation and Amerindian Heritage to name a few. This means that the RDC will continue to face an uphill battle to properly address these activities meaningfully. However, with your support and utilizing our various partnerships we are committed to making Mashramani 2024 a truly memorable experience this year, eclipsing the memory of the poorly supported activity experienced last year. We encourage you to listen out for the many innovations we have implemented to make Mash 2024 a truly spectacular event, including the Mash Bands from constituencies across Linden as we celebrate this festival in its birthplace.
I thank you.
N.B
Region 10’s Budget for 2024 has been set at $7, 163, 903 (seven billion, one hundred and sixty three million, nine hundred and three thousand dollars, of which more than six billion dollars falls into our Current budget that allows for the payment of salaries for public servants as well as rehabilitation and repair projects.
This sum represents a 14% increase on the 2023 allocation for the Region, which was $6,163,141, 000 (six billion, one hundred and sixty-three million, one hundred and forty-one thousand dollars)
Budget 2024 allocates Region 10 a total of $865, 362, 000 (Eight hundred and sixty five million, three hundred and sixty two thousand dollars) for Capital expenditure.
Our Current allocation for 2024 is listed as $$6, 298, 541, 000 (Six billion two hundred and ninety-eight million, five hundred and forty-one thousand dollars)
Please let me clarify that in my initial presentation I referenced that our Capital programme had received only $30 million more than was allocated in our 2023 budget. However at the ending I shared that in effect, the increase was $55 million more when the revised total for our 2023 budget was considered, hence what might appear to be an inconsistency is simply the difference between our 2023 budget allocation and our revised totals for 2023.
Deron Adams
Kwakwani Sub region 2
I want to pick up on the issues identified by the Regional Chairman at sub-region 2, with respect to the denial of funding for the construction of accommodation for the Agriculture extension officers at Wiruni. The RDC has pushed hard for this project to be executed since there is a clear call from the farming communities along the Berbice River for the services of these officers. I am sure that our residents along the Berbice River will be very disappointed to note that this project has been denied, but we will continue to represent these development inputs for them.
Similarly, the Council had proposed several roads for inclusion in our Capital programme which again were denied in Budget 2024. Jamoon Lane, Chiney Lane, Third Phase Road, Old Market Street, Jonestown Road and Pottsville Road remain without funding in the RDC’s budget even after your Council made representation for same.
Just as the Regional Chairman related, drainage in Region 10 is a serious consideration, and in sub-region 2 this is no different. Residents of Kwakwani could tell you of the erosion problems experienced at Staff Hill as a result of a lack of drains in the area, a situation the RDC had sought to correct by requesting drains for this area in Budget 2024. However our residents will be left to the mercies of this situation for another year since our request for funding drains for Staff Hill has been denied.
Even if these projects are put under another head such as a Ministry, our monitoring mechanisms need to be heightened, since this is where a lot of unscrupulous activities are encouraged. Even those under our purview need extra scrutiny, since the bridge constructed at Hururu last year saw the use of questionable material to execute this work according to several reports from residents. In a community where logging is one of the primary economic pursuits, the contractor utilized the much cheaper and unreliable species of wood such as Moraballi to drive piles for this bridge that should have been Greenheart. Government contracts usually require the use of Greenheart piles for these purposes due to its ability to provide durability for bridge construction. The use of lesser quality material not only compromises the integrity of the project, but shortchanges the Council due to the difference in cost for this material as against the required Greenheart.
I would like to close by signaling to the people of sub-region 2 that the RADC has called on the Government to examine the feasibility of utilizing sections of the current Demerara Harbour Bridge to bridge the Berbice River at Kwakwani, a project that consultations with our residents have revealed massive support for. We look forward to meaningful consultations and action on this and other representation made on behalf of our residents as we work to secure development for sub-Region 2 and Region 10 as a whole.
Thank you
Mark Goring.