Barbados is a small island in the Caribbean with none of the resources with which Guyana has been blessed. Indeed, it has a smaller population. It presented its budget this week and I was shocked at some of the measures.
There was a capital expenditure of $393.8 million B’dos. Converted to US dollars that would be about US$192 million. Guyana’s capital expenditure is approximately US$7.4 billion, driven by massive oil-funded investments in infrastructure, healthcare, and security.
That would suggest that it is either Guyana’s infrastructure is so run down that it is being rebuilt from scratch. But there was a similar capital expenditure going back three years. However, in Barbados when capital works are undertaken the major works are guaranteed to last for at least two decades.
In Guyana such works are guaranteed to last for about two or three years. In some cases, no sooner has the work been concluded than repairs are being undertaken.
A project in West Ruimveldt was completed mere months ago but already it must undergo repairs that are as substandard as the actual construction.
Given its oil wealth one would expect that Guyana would be in a position to hire better contractors than Barbados. For as long as one can remember there have been accusations of government wastage. The charge is that the government does not care too much about work quality.
Rather, the focus is on getting money into the pockets of friends, family and favourites. But the Guyana government is contending that it is a people centered government.
Almost every project undertaken by the government is over budget. That represents more waste of money.
Some projects never get off the ground. One such project is the well that was to have been constructed at Belle West that was awarded to Tepui. Nearly a billion dollars (US$5 million) was awarded for the contract. However, the contractor after collecting the ten percent mobilization fee, did nothing more.
The government never attempted to recover the money. This is never going to happen in Barbados. The country simply does not have that kind of money to waste.
But capital works are not the only highlights of the Barbados budget. At first glance the impression was that the Barbados Budget was the people centered budget. Pensioners Personal Income tax threshold has been raised from $40,000 (US$20,000) to $75,000 (US$37,500).
In local currency, that is a hike from $4 million to $5.5 million. There is also a two per cent hike in the minimum wage. Even better, there is a cost of living cash credit of US$50 per month for seniors over age 65. Guyana has given its pensioners $5,000 per month.
Barbados does not have oil or gold. Barbados does not produce the volume of agriculture products that Guyana does. One can only imagine what that country would have done for its people had it been in the same position of Guyana.
Earlier this week, someone posted on social media a fleet of large buses transporting immigrants to a work site. The work site was Wales where Guyana plans to set up a gas to energy station. The company that has hired the immigrants is Lindsayca, a company that has its headquarters in Texas.
It is rooted in Venezuela so one can imagine that all the immigrants that boarded the bus were Venezuelans. Guyanese were once more excluded from a local project that is being executed in Guyana.
That could not have been the case in Barbados. People can remember when Guyanese rushed to Barbados to take up construction jobs. Many were absorbed but they had to defer to similarly qualified Barbadians.
The Guyanese had to be registered to work in the country. The immigrants in Guyana are largely unregistered. Even, the Guyana government gives them preference over the Guyanese.
Millions of dollars have been spent on the Wales project. This project was to have been completed at the end of last year at a cost of US$759 million. This project is far from completion.
To add to the cost, Lindsayca had taken the government to court over the quality of the soil at Wales. The government had to pay a further US$100 million.
It is hard to imagine that Barbados would have been so free with its money while its people struggled. Estimates place the poverty rate in Barbados with no oil, no gold, no agriculture and none of the resources with which Guyana is blessed, at 9.2 per cent.
Guyana’s poverty level is 58 per cent. How can a country with so much money and such a vast array of natural resources have such a high poverty rate? Guyana earned US$2.4 billion in total oil revenue in 2025 alone.
A comparison of unemployment rates for Guyana and Barbados tells a shocking story. The unemployment rate in Barbados is 7.5%. Guyana’s unemployment rate is 11.9 per cent.
It has to be a case of mismanagement of the economy. There have been people who won large sums of money in a lottery. Within a few short years the money disappeared. People have heard of boxers and other sportsmen who made millions of dollars only to end up poverty stricken.
Guyana is heading in this direction. Of course, a few people would be filthy rich with more money than they can spend in four generations.
Somewhere in the Scriptures it is written that the last days shall be worse than the first. It reflects biblical prophecy regarding the end times, characterized by unparalleled tribulation, severe social chaos, and moral decay.
Jesus describes this period as a time of great suffering unlike any other, with increasing wickedness.
Guyana must certainly be heading for the end of times.
And as an addendum. One of the lawyers for Azruddin and Nazar Mohamed had said that the Mohameds would be in Guyana for a long time. The Caribbean Court of Justice seems to have endorsed that opinion.
It has halted the extradition hearing.
