Guyana cannot afford a politics of one-off gifts. We can choose a politics of work, service, and law. Pay people fairly for what they do. Award contracts fairly for what firms can deliver. Invest in the foundations every family uses. That is how oil wealth becomes national wealth, not momentary relief.
Handouts to select groups in Guyana are unfair to everyone else. They divide citizens into winners and spectators. They create a loyalty ladder when we need a fair and just society that rewards work, pays living wages, and awards contracts on merit.
We have heard the list. Higher cash grants. Farmer grants. Homeowner grants. Transportation grants. One-off payments that can be withdrawn as quickly as they are announced. If you have no children, no home, no farm, you are left out. That is not social protection. That is selective relief.
Oil wealth should build systems, not stipends. Good hospitals and clinics. Strong schools with trained, motivated teachers. Safer communities. Reliable roads and drainage. A labour market where hard work moves a family forward. These are the basics people ask for and deserve.
Two citizens said it plainly.
“Stop the handouts and create jobs so parents can stand on their own. Independence matters.”
“So people will still need handouts to survive next year?”
They are right to ask. Temporary grants do not fix low wages. They do not fix weak procurement. They do not fix youth exclusion from finance and housing. They do not raise productivity on farms or in small businesses. They do not make a mother feel safe walking home at night.
Here is a better path.
- Put work first. Set a wage policy that grows with inflation and productivity. Enforce the labour laws. Pay public servants on time and tie promotions to performance.
- Clean up procurement. Publish all contracts, bidders, scores, and change orders. Disqualify repeat non-performers. Let the best firms win and deliver.
- Invest in foundations. Train teachers. Modernize curricula. Fix school maintenance budgets. Expand TVET linked to real jobs.
- Back youth. Create credit lines and first-loss guarantees for youth entrepreneurs. Offer serviced lots and mortgage guarantees for first-time buyers.
- Support farmers with infrastructure. Farm roads, cold storage, extension, irrigation. Replace cheques with services that cut costs every season.
- Make transport and safety reliable. Tie any fare support to service standards. Expand community policing and youth jobs where crime is concentrated.
- Lock in discipline. Publish a rolling capital plan. Follow fiscal rules for the oil fund. Audit every grant program and publish the beneficiary lists and criteria.
This is what fairness looks like. Clear rules. Equal treatment. Help that everyone can see and plan around. A government confident in its record builds systems that outlast election calendars. Stipends are easy. Building institutions is harder and more honest.
Guyana cannot afford a politics of one-off gifts. We can choose a politics of work, service, and law. Pay people fairly for what they do. Award contracts fairly for what firms can deliver. Invest in the foundations every family uses. That is how oil wealth becomes national wealth, not momentary relief.
