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This $1.146 trillion Budget, touted the biggest in the nation’s history, is being packaged to fellow Guyanese as “Staying The Course: Building Prosperity For All.” Given the nation’s exponential wealth, which is in the hands of few and growing poverty we would be in order to question “staying what course, and who are those considered ‘all’ in this prosperity?”
If I were to use one word to describe the budget, that word would be: UNINSPIRING. The 2024 Budget is built on shifting sand, devoid of a proper foundation. The budget lacks philosophical rudder; fails to articulate a clear and compelling vision; fails to articulate long-term goals, objectives, or a roadmap for sustainable development; fails to tackle urgent and important societal issues; fails to allocate adequate resources to key sectors, such as education, which got the poor sum of $135.2 billion, healthcare $129.8 billion, and nothing substantial allocated for social welfare.
The budget lacks clear economic and social indicators and measurements for success; facilitates disproportionate allocations on concrete projects at the expense of human capital development; and fails to engage critical stakeholders and citizens in meaningful consultations. The princely sums of $ 221.4 billion are allocated to roads and $204.1 billion to bridges.
In fact, the rubric under which the nice sounding words and figures have been assembled: ‘Staying the Course: Building Prosperity For All’ is really another way of saying to Guyanese 2024 will be ‘more of the same.’ More of the same partisan policies that exclude minorities and marginalised groups from participating in the political process; more of the same policies that facilitate and exacerbate social and economic inequities in our society; more of the same policies that allow unsustainable growth and lopsided development, in a trickle- down economy; more of the same policies that facilitate structural discrimination, and corruption facilitated by the interplay of partisan politics and uncontrolled, impulsive splurging of oil money, by the incumbent.
The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) has ignored the demands of the Parliamentary Opposition and other sections of society, to be inclusive and craft a budget that leaves no group or individual behind. In fact the government has doubled down on the famous George Orwell’s line that: “all are equal, but some are more equal than some.”
This budget has fallen short on many fronts; it lacks an inclusive approach in conceptualization, equal and equitable allocation of resources, the hallmarks of good governance which, according to the United Nations has eight characteristics: participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the Rule of Law.
As in previous years, the 2024 Budget failed to heed the call for inclusivity, consistent with the Country’s principal political objective, as outlined in Article 13 of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana which states:
“The principal objective of the political system of the State is to establish an inclusionary democracy by providing increasing opportunities for the participation of citizens, and their organisations in the management and decision-making processes of the State, with particular emphasis on those areas of decision-making that directly affect their well-being.”
Government’s failure to be inclusive inflicts violence to the spirit and letter of Article 13, and this infliction is injurious to social cohesion and shared economic prosperity. Nearly 50% of our citizens have been excluded from a process, which arrived at decisions that would shape the course and quality of their lives, communities and nation. This raises serious questions about accountability and governance. This lack of meaningful consultation with those who bear the brunt of fiscal policies is not just a procedural misstep; it is a disconcerting display of governance that disregards the very essence of democracy.
A serious disadvantage of sidestepping stakeholder consultations is the increased risk of misallocation of funds. This lack of insight from those directly affected by the budgetary decisions can result in a financial plan that simply fails to address the real needs of the people and hampers the nation’s overall progress.
Moreover, the absence of meaningful consultation undermines the democratic and Good Governance principles that should really underpin the budgetary process. Indeed, a budget is not merely a financial document; it is a reflection of collective aspirations and felt needs of a society. By excluding critical stakeholders such as community and other leaders, labour organisations, municipalities, town councils, and representatives of marginalised groups the government is essentially sidelining the voices that could provide valuable perspectives on how to create a budget that is truly inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of the population.
A budget that lacks measurement is akin to a scientific experiment without controls- results become arbitrary, and conclusions lack empirical grounding. This action by the Government is a fundamental deviation from the principles of evidence- based governance. It can only shape a narrative of fiscal opaqueness, inefficiency, wastage and a missed opportunity for real socio- economic progress.
In the world’s fastest growing economy, the 1.146 trillion-dollar budget is devoid of a plan that would provide social and economic upliftment for the small man, workers, pensioners, youth and traditional business. This is a budget that panders to nouveau riche, friends, family and favourites of the PPP. The 2024 budget undoubtedly opens the floodgates to exclusion, waste, fraud and abuse.
Guyana’s founding fathers and mothers, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, Cheddi Jagan, Forbes Burnham, J.P Latchmansingh, Janet Jagan, Peter d’Aguiar and Jane Phillips-Gay would weep at the vast inequalities and inequities in society, and the PPP’s contempt for ordinary people and business.
