A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) parliamentarian Sharma Solomon has accused the governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP) of failing to take responsibility for reducing poverty in Guyana, citing rising inequality, sharp increases in food and housing prices, worsening child malnutrition and gaps in the health system.
In a letter to the editor, Solomon said the government reacted angrily to his references to poverty and to findings by the Inter-American Development Bank.
“The PPP government has taken umbrage to my reference to its failure to address the situation of poverty facing the people of Guyana. My comments have drawn an animated response from the President and induced palpitations among members of the government,” Solomon wrote.
“The response of the PPP tells me that it does not feel it has a responsibility to reduce or eliminate poverty within the Guyanese society. Instead, it attempts to contextualise the observation of the IADB revealing its obstinacy to serve and improve the lives of all Guyanese.”
Solomon said the dominance of the oil and gas industry has worsened conditions for households already in poverty.
“Despite its ostrich-like posture, the conditions that precipitate the need for action exist. The dominance of the oil and gas industry has brought a redistribution of income that has caused the economic conditions of households already in poverty to worsen,” he said.
He added that, “Based on data that we have, income inequality rose from 43 in 2019 to 48 in 2024,” while rising living costs “imposed severe strain on families and made the situation of malnutrition precarious.”
The APNU parliamentarian said the charge that the government has failed to arrest poverty is supported by sharp increases in the cost of food and housing since the PPP returned to office.
“The allegation against the government during the debate of failing to arrest poverty is based on the phenomenal price increases, particularly in the areas of food and housing that have taken place since it came back into office,” he wrote.
He said the retail price of fruits rose by 145 per cent from 2019 to 2024, plantains by 106 per cent and vegetables by 105 per cent. He added that eggs increased by 63 per cent and meat by an average of 57 per cent. Solomon further noted that, based on figures provided by the government, the price of houses for young professionals had risen by 84 per cent by 2023 when compared with 2021.
Solomon said poverty is reflected most clearly in the health and nutrition of children and pointed to data presented by the government in the 2026 national budget.
“Here is the point that the PPP must concern itself with and not try to shirk its responsibility. Poverty shows up in the health condition of our children, and it is the reason we try to measure and monitor their progress,” he wrote.
He said the percentage of severely malnourished children was 0.9 in 2017 and fell to 0.2 in 2019, but deteriorated after the change of government.
“In 2021, the percentage of severely malnourished children climbed back up to 0.4 and remained at 0.5 since 2023,” Solomon said.
He added that moderate malnutrition also worsened.
“Even in the case of moderately malnourished children, evidence of inattentiveness to this situation is obvious. In 2019, the percentage of moderately malnourished children stood at 1. By 2025, it had risen to 1.5, ending that year worse than it was in 2024.”
Solomon said his research showed that “one-third of women of childbearing age in Guyana were anemic” and that “15 percent of the children born to anemic mothers in Guyana had low birth weights.”
“Such children are often unable to rise to their full potential,” he wrote, adding that when later social problems emerge, labels such as “scrapes” and “dunce thugs” are used “to belittle and ostracize them.”
He said government data also show that progress on low birth weight has reversed.
“The failure of the PPP to fix this problem is evident also in the data. The low birth weight of our children was trending downwards in 2019 while there are signs from the data provided in the budget that it had begun to worsen in 2025. Their claim that ‘We Care’ rings hollow.”
On the health sector, Solomon said large investments in hospitals have not translated into improved capacity when population growth is taken into account.
“On another front, I must draw attention to an outcome that challenges the integrity and management of our healthcare system,” he wrote.
“The PPP has been spending lots of our oil money on hospitals. They convey the impression that the investment in hospital beds is impressive. But it should be noted that the average number of hospital beds per 10,000 population was 29.32 from 2021 to 2025.”
He said this was lower than the period immediately after the PPP first entered office in the 1990s.
“I make this point because from 1992 to 1996, a period after the PPP took over from the PNC, the number of hospital beds was 32.68 per 10,000 population,” Solomon wrote.
“It is clear that, even with all the oil money and supposed expertise, the number of hospital beds lag behind the years 1992 to 1996.”
Meanwhile, President Irfaan Ali has rejected the opposition’s characterisation of Budget 2026 and the claims of worsening poverty and child malnutrition raised by Solomon and other opposition members.
In public remarks during the budget debate period, Ali said the criticisms reflect a misreading or a deliberate distortion of the government’s plans. He dismissed the claim that Budget 2026 offers no support to ordinary citizens and challenged critics to engage with the facts set out in the budget speech, insisting that the government’s policies and programmes are aimed at delivering direct benefits to households.
