President Irfaan Ali was in a hurry to respond to former Finance Minister Winston Jordan who said that by avoiding the waste by the government, teachers could have got a 20 per cent increase.
I smiled when I saw the president in a T-shirt sporting the image of Muhammad Ali. It might have been a case of seeking to align himself to the late great boxer whose name is pronounced similarly. But then I realised that he was rushed to appear before the cameras.
After smiling and then listening to the President, I realised that the president was promoting the line that Black people are hungry belly, that they like to eat. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had earlier promoted the same line. Member of Parliament Amanza Walton Desir had to make an issue of this during a Parliamentary sitting.
So, on Sunday evening, there was President Irfaan Ali saying that the Coalition government spent more money that the combined budget for Regions One to Five on dietary. He said that it was greater than the budget for health and education.
My research revealed that in 2018 the expenditure on dietary was $4.6 billion. Of course President Ali contended that the people in government used that money to feed themselves. The truth was that the money provided dietary supplements for the health and education sectors, the police, the army, child care, the prisons and the Palms. These were the neglected sectors during the tenure of the previous government.
Ninety-seven per cent of the money went to those sectors and institutions. In the following year, given the increase in the size of the army, the police, the school population and the prison population and inflation, almost ninety-eight per cent of the allocation went to those sectors and institutions. Needless to say, hot meals were introduced to schools.
According to President Ali this was a waste of money. It did not promote investment or infrastructure development. That attitude explains why the nation must suffer and if possible die while roads are being built. Eating is not an attribute that the government promotes. That is considered a wasteful activity.
A long time ago experts said that a healthy nation means lower hospital rates. It also means children with better brain activity. It was clear that the programme worked because the results at the external examinations were much better than they are today.
One must wonder at the expenditure to feed the police and the army, the Palms and the children in the child care services these days. It is almost impossible to get information from the institutions on the food bill for the army and the police. We do know that some people related to senior police officers were supplying eggs and chicken to the police at highly inflated costs.
It is therefore no surprise that a reported 700 police ranks have tendered their resignations which are not being accepted. It is the same with the army.
But that was not all that President Ali addressed. He spoke about the pay increase that the coalition government Ministers gave themselves. That was a source of humour.
At a press conference, the then PPP General Secretary, Clement Rohee, said that the PPP MPs would give the increases to a charity. He said that they did not want it.
History has proved him a liar. In fact, more than that happened. The government gave its Ministers and Members of Parliament the same 23 per cent on top of that increase. That was the money that the government gave to public servants over the four years. No Minister is receiving less than $1.2 million per month.
President Ali himself, and Attorney General Anil Nandlall, got a 23 per cent increase on the tax free $2.4 million they were receiving each month. There will be need for the hospitals given that people are unable to feed themselves. But there is a query. Who will staff the hospitals?
The new schools are another story. A look at the construction exposes the quality of work that would have to undergo remedial action in the not too distant future. Again, who will staff the schools? The hinterland schools are in another world. It is said that if there is apartheid in Guyana it is a case of the indigenous school children who are far removed from the education system.
The roads are something else. Eight of the least qualified contractors undertook the construction of the Schoonord roadway which is about three miles long. That is already showing signs of deterioration. President Ali justifies this by saying that the deterioration is occurring during the liability period.
The same is evident on Heroes Highway. Drive along it during or soon after a heavy shower and witness the problems. The less than one-mile-long Cemetery Road project was completed more than a year after the scheduled completion date. And according to Attorney Nigel Hughes, the government has gone to the Natural Resources Fund and withdrawn more than US$1 billion. There is nothing to show for this money, he said.
So, when President Irfaan Ali rushed before the television cameras in T-shirt and probably short pants something had to cause the panic. Some say that it was the analysis by former Finance Minister Winston Jordan on a podcast with Kidackie Amsterdam. The same Winston Jordan said that President Ali would make the disabled look normal.
