Georgetown, Guyana – In a blistering indictment of the government’s economic direction, a prominent member of the Private Sector has broken the sector’s typical public silence, accusing the administration of orchestrating a “massive transfer of the nation’s assets” to a privileged few under the deceptive banner of public-private partnership.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of commercial and political retaliation, the executive stated that the government’s relentless push into traditional and emerging business sectors is not development, but a form of economic strangulation.
“What we are witnessing is not a partnership, but a calculated incursion. The government is aggressively moving into spaces that should be the sole territory of the private sector, armed with nothing but the words ‘partnership with the private sector,’” the private sector member said. “Yet, where are the calls for bids? Where is the transparency? There is none. What is privately whispered in every boardroom is that these so-called ‘partnerships’ are pre-arranged marriages with PPP friends, families, and favorites. This is a classic, massive transfer of the nation’s assets to the ruling party’s inner circle.”
The criticism directly challenges the core of President Irfaan Ali’s recent national address, which heavily promoted state-led ventures in several areas including artificial intelligence and infrastructure. The member argued this approach is fundamentally flawed and antithetical to growth.
“Why on earth do we need government control over these new industries? Governments are notoriously terrible at innovation and efficient management,” the member stated. “The government’s role should be to create an enabling environment—for instance, by encouraging commercial banks to lower lending rates and collateral requirements and then get out of the way. Allow real Guyanese entrepreneurs and businesses, with skin in the game and a need to be efficient, to enter these arenas. Instead, they are creating state-backed monopolies for their cronies.”
The result, according to the source, is a local private sector being suffocated from two sides. “We are caught in a vise. On one side, we have this aggressive government interference and control, carving out the most lucrative opportunities for themselves. On the other, we face foreign investment interests that are often ushered in through these same opaque ‘partnerships.’ The genuine Guyanese private sector is left to suffer in silence, squeezed out of our own economy’s future.”
The member concluded with a dire warning: “This is not development; it is a targeted asset grab. They are not building a nation for all Guyanese. They are building a fiefdom for a select few, and the rest of us—the actual engine of the economy—are expected to watch in silence as we are driven to the margins. The silence, however, will soon become a roar of frustration.”
