When someone is hungry there is nothing better than an offer of food. And this prevails in Guyana. There are those who can afford to eat although it is costing them more. However, they have the resources to cope with the increases.
The most recent country report places the poverty level at close to 48 per cent. Guyana had experienced a decline in poverty over the past decade from 60.9 percent in 2006 to 48.4 percent in 2019, using a poverty line of US$5.50 per day in 2011.
Today, five years later, the poverty level is said to be higher than the 48 per cent in 2019. The surprising thing is that Guyana has more money than it has ever had. Its daily earnings from oil is put at US$8 million per day.
Anyone looking in would be hard pressed to understand the level of poverty in this country. The reality, according to experts, is that the government is more interested in infrastructure than in people development.
Such has been this concentration that at one time the mantra was that the people would have to eat road. Given the trillion-dollar budget this year one would have expected that more emphasis would have been placed on human development.
Instead, some $700 billion has gone into the construction sector with the contracts going to people with attachment to the government. There have been complaints about the awards of some contracts. According to reports the government ignored some of the better qualified contractors.
Meanwhile, the ordinary people keep struggling. In recognition of the plight, the government came up with a plan for people to work ten days per month. Many of these 10-day workers had precious little to do. Some manned gates, some cleaned offices but all were required to attend rallies hosted by the ruling party and government.
When oil began to come to the surface in 2019 Professor Clive Thomas, a foremost economist, recommended that each household be given a million dollars each year. He considered that to be a means of sharing the oil wealth with the people. The government disagreed.
It continued to build schools, roads and hospitals without consideration for the reality that it did not have the human resource to staff the institutions. But the openings and ribbon cuttings provided excellent photo opportunities.
Public servants appealed for increases in their emoluments. Teachers went on strike for some five weeks but the government refused to yield. In the end an agreement was reached between the Guyana Teachers Union and the government because, as some members of the Guyana Teachers Union contended, the Union president sold the teachers out.
During that time, in the face of calls by the opposition, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, President Irfaan Ali, and others claimed that any injection of money into the economy would fuel inflation. In fact, Jagdeo contended that all the opposition wanted to do was to feed people.
Suddenly, President Ali went to the National Assembly last week to announce that the government was paying $200,000 to each household. The talk about fueling inflation became irrelevant. And as can be expected, there was joy among the people.
When the dust settled the analysts realised that there was no definition of a household. There were also questions about the number of households in Guyana. Vice President Jagdeo said that there were just over 300,000 households in Guyana.
The 2012 census said that there were 264,000 households. The government never released the 2022 census figures. According to a news outlet that claimed to have got a sneak peek at the 2022 census report, there was a population decline.
At the same time, there are a number of squatting communities in Guyana. Were these counted among the households? Will they be considered as households? Then there are the mining communities in which people live. Are these considered households?
And what about the Amerindian communities? Were they counted? The indigenous people are among the least considered except when it is elections time.
When the government distributed the COVID cash grants the distributors walked around with huge sacks of money. That cash grant of $25,000 was to have gone to every household. Instead, the rules changed along the way.
The people said that the money was only going to homeowners. People renting apartments and houses were not considered in some areas. Those people were given pink slips which were supposed to allow them to collect the money later. People still have those pink slips years after the distribution. Will they be considered this time around?
The stark reality is that the poorest of the poor will not get any money. Those are the pavement dwellers, the people in the senior citizens’ home and the night shelters, and those who have set up homes on the seawalls.
This money is coming at a time when the cost of living is so high that average people have no disposable income.
When he made the announcement, President Ali said that the distribution would be done instantaneously. One day later, Vice President Jagdeo said, “Not so.” He said that the distribution could take as long as five months.
The cash grant will be a boon to many but for now, it is nothing but a dangling carrot.
