Guyana is living through a historic moment. We are a country blessed with enormous natural resources, particularly petroleum wealth, and we have an opportunity that generations before us could only dream about.
Yet the question every Guyanese must ask is: What are we doing with this opportunity, and what will be left for our children and grandchildren?
My concern is that the PPP Government is spending Guyana’s present resources at a pace that risks mortgaging the country’s future.
This is not simply a political slogan. It is a question of national financial management, accountability and intergenerational responsibility.
Guyana’s 2026 National Budget is approximately G$1.558 trillion, an extraordinary sum for a population of our size. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance projects total public and publicly guaranteed debt at approximately US$10.33 billion by the end of 2026, compared with approximately US$5.99 billion at the end of 2024.
These numbers should cause every citizen to stop and ask: How much are we borrowing, how much are we spending, what are we receiving in return, and who ultimately carries the burden?
OIL WAS SUPPOSED TO CHANGE OUR FUTURE
The discovery of oil created an extraordinary opportunity.
Oil wealth should not merely finance larger annual budgets. It should be transformed into permanent national wealth—modern infrastructure, world-class education, healthcare, productive industries, technology, agriculture, manufacturing, renewable energy and opportunities for young Guyanese.
The Natural Resource Fund was established precisely because petroleum is finite. The Government itself has stated that oil resources should be managed transparently for the benefit of present and future generations.
That principle must mean more than simply spending oil revenue today.
If every generation consumes the proceeds of a finite resource without creating sufficient alternative wealth, then eventually the oil will decline—and the bills will remain.
That is the danger.
BORROWING TODAY, PAYING TOMORROW
Government borrowing is not automatically wrong. Responsible borrowing can finance infrastructure that produces long-term economic returns.
But borrowing becomes a national concern when citizens cannot clearly determine whether today’s debt will generate tomorrow’s productive capacity.
The Government’s own 2026 debt projections show total public and publicly guaranteed debt rising substantially.
We therefore need more than speeches about development.
We need full transparency regarding every major loan, project cost, contractor, repayment obligation, feasibility study and expected economic return.
The Guyanese people should not be expected to applaud every billion-dollar project simply because it carries the label of “development.”
Development must be measured by what it produces for ordinary citizens.
WHERE IS THE WEALTH CREATION?
A country cannot build a sustainable future simply by constructing more concrete structures.
We need an economy where a young Guyanese can graduate from university and find meaningful employment.
We need farmers who can produce competitively.
We need manufacturers who can export.
We need fishermen whose industry can survive.
We need small businesses that can obtain affordable capital.
We need technological industries that can create high-paying jobs.
We need communities in the hinterland to participate meaningfully in the national economy.
The Government’s 2026 budget does contain measures aimed at financial empowerment, including a proposed Guyana Development Bank with US$100 million allocated for financing opportunities for SMEs, young entrepreneurs, women and persons with disabilities.
Those initiatives must be judged by their results—not merely by announcements.
DEVELOPMENT MUST NOT MEAN DEPENDENCE
Guyana must be careful not to create an economy where government spending becomes the primary engine of prosperity.
A government can build roads, bridges, hospitals and schools, but it cannot permanently substitute public expenditure for a diversified private-sector economy.
Oil will not last forever.
Construction booms do not last forever.
Commodity prices fluctuate.
Governments change.
But debt obligations remain.
That is why Guyana needs a long-term national development strategy that survives political administrations.
THE QUESTION OF ACCOUNTABILITY
The greatest resource in Guyana is not oil.
It is the Guyanese people.
Every dollar belonging to the people must therefore be treated as a sacred public trust.
Citizens deserve to know:
How much oil revenue has been received?
How much has been withdrawn?
How much has been borrowed?
Who received the contracts?
What did each project actually cost?
What assets were created?
What revenue will those assets generate?
And how much debt will our children inherit?
These are not unreasonable questions.
They are the basic questions of responsible citizenship.
WE CANNOT CONSUME OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE
The PPP Government may call its spending programme transformation.
The Government may point to roads, bridges, buildings and other major projects as evidence of progress.
But a truly transformed Guyana must be measured by something much deeper:
Are Guyanese becoming wealthier, more productive, better educated, healthier and more economically independent?
If the answer is not sufficiently reflected in the lives of ordinary citizens, then we must question whether the country is receiving the full benefit of its unprecedented oil wealth.
The opposition, civil society, trade unions, professional organisations, churches, religious organisations, journalists and ordinary citizens all have a responsibility to scrutinise the management of the nation’s resources.
This is not about opposing development.
It is about demanding development that belongs to the people.
It is not about opposing borrowing.
It is about demanding borrowing that produces measurable and sustainable returns.
It is not about opposing oil production.
It is about ensuring that oil wealth becomes permanent national wealth.
OUR CHILDREN HAVE A RIGHT TO MORE
The children of Guyana did not choose the oil contracts.
They did not choose today’s borrowing.
They did not choose today’s expenditure.
But they may be the ones required to live with the consequences.
That is why I believe we must ask the hardest question of all:
When the oil eventually declines, what will we have built that can sustain Guyana?
If the answer is simply more debt, more dependence and an economy heavily reliant on government expenditure, then we have failed an historic responsibility.
Guyana has been handed an opportunity of a lifetime. We must not allow that opportunity to become a missed generation.
The wealth beneath our soil belongs not only to those living today. It is a trust for those who have not yet been born.
The PPP Government therefore has a responsibility to demonstrate—not merely declare—that today’s unprecedented oil wealth and borrowing are being converted into lasting national assets and opportunities.
Because if we consume the future today, our children will be left to pay for a prosperity they never received.
Guyana’s oil must build Guyana’s future—not finance the destruction of it.
