Gov’t claim of increased disposable income an illusion, cost of living remains high-Opposition

“Second Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has to be blind, deaf or just insensitive to the realities in Guyana as it relates to the high cost of living. Or is it that because he is not dumb, he chooses to make statements which are out of touch with the realities in Guyana?” So said the Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), in a statement issued yesterday.

In a blistering critique of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government management of the economy, the Opposition said attempts to dismiss the daily hardship of ordinary Guyanese is heartless. “Jagdeo’s use of abstract figures on expenditures to defend his government only adds insult to injury. Instead, he should visit the homes and kitchens of ordinary citizens if he is really interested in knowing how they fare. Alas, he is not that interested.”

The Opposition is calling on struggling Guyanese, including those who voted for the PPP, to reflect on Jagdeo’s continued rejection of high cost of living and poor living standards as their daily reality. The Opposition reminded that more than two years ago it called for the following:

1. The provision of a 50% salary increase for public servants
2. The raising of the tax-free threshold to $150,000 per month to put more money in the hands of the over 200,000 Guyanese workers in the public and private sectors.
3. The development of regional agriculture to reduce the costs of food.
4. The provision of large grants to help farmers purchase equipment to bring costs down.
5. The distribution of fuel vouchers to bring the cost of fuel down for farm to market transportation.
6. The provision of two hot meals to students, to ease food costs their parents face.
7. The establishment of a school transportation network to remove student transportation costs.
8. The immediate distribution of the unexpected $300 million USD windfall in oil revenue earned in 2022 due to the war in Ukraine.”

The Opposition’s full statement follows:

JADGEO AND THE PPP CONTINUE TO DENY THE EXISTENCE OF HIGH COST OF LIVING

Second Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has to be blind, deaf or just insensitive to the realities in Guyana as it relates to the high cost of living. Or is it that because he is not dumb he chooses to make statements which are out of touch with the realities in Guyana?

Two days ago, the Stabroek News reported Vice President Jagdeo as claiming his government continues to actively ease the cost-of-living burden on its citizens. He sought therefore to discredit the Stabroek News’ weekly Cost of Living series as “a political ploy” and to dismiss the grievances expressed by citizens as biased. But, as several commentators correctly observed: Jagdeo must be living in an alternate universe, or he is detached from the reality faced by ordinary Guyanese.

However, in our view, Jagdeo’s attempts to dismiss the daily hardships of ordinary Guyanese are directly due to him and his party’s heartlessness for the plight of the vast majority of citizens across all regions and ethnic groups and the fact that they live an elitist life and not in touch with the sufferings of the people of Guyana.

Jagdeo’s use of abstract figures on expenditures to defend his government only adds insult to injury. Instead, he should visit the homes and kitchens of ordinary citizens if he is really interested in knowing how they fare. Alas, he is not that interested.

Struggling Guyanese, including those who voted for the PPP, must reflect on Jagdeo’s continued rejection of high cost of living and poor living standards as their daily reality. They will most likely conclude, if they haven’t already, that under the PPP government, life in Guyana is a burden that will not get better once it remains in office. The PPP’s priorities are directed elsewhere: towards their business friends, families and favorites. The PPP’s reliance on large expenditures on infrastructure only creates false hopes for the many Guyanese on the lower and middle rounds of the economic ladder.

Spending the monies Jagdeo claims were spent on fuel subsidies is an ineffective approach to ease living cost. Such subsidies do not adequately trickle down to the ordinary citizens and those who least need a subsidy (the already well-to-do) benefit the most while the most needy benefit the least.  Moreover, the PPP’s claim that it has increased disposable income by tens of billions of dollars is a mirage, as most of it has been swallowed up by the high and increasing cost of living.

Jagdeo’s response at his Press Conference yesterday that all this is how the free market works further exposes his indifference and his cluelessness in economic management.  There is no free market in Guyana. The economics of Guyanese society is dominated and control in large measures by the PPP. Just check the allocation of over $666 billion dollars which are allocated to the PPP elite, their families, friends and favourites and you will see that the people of Guyana do not benefit.

We accept that the PPP is incompetent and divisive. What we cannot accept is their unwillingness to listen to sensible well thought out advice. On the 7^th March 2024, we advised the PPP on the following:

That “Since the PPP continues to demonstrate a lack of interest in, or even understanding of, the cost-of-living crisis, we take this opportunity to highlight some of the measures we have been advancing for the last two years. We have called for:

1. The provision of a 50% salary increase for public servants
2. The raising of the tax-free threshold to $150,000 per month to put more money in the hands of the over 200,000 Guyanese workers in the public and private sectors.
3. The development of regional agriculture to reduce the costs of food.
4. The provision of large grants to help farmers purchase equipment to bring costs down.
5. The distribution of fuel vouchers to bring the cost of fuel down for farm to market transportation.
6. The provision of two hot meals to students, to ease food costs their parents face.
7. The establishment of a school transportation network to remove student transportation costs.
8. The immediate distribution of the unexpected $300 million USD windfall in oil revenue earned in 2022 due to the war in Ukraine.”

In addition to those, we outlined many other measures that should be taken to reduce the cost of living but the PPP continues to be deaf, blind and insensitive to the Guyanese reality.

We have concluded that as the next government, we will invest directly in the people of Guyana through our People-Centered Development Strategy. We will work to ensure all Guyanese households are guaranteed a livable income within the shortest possible time. We will ensure that the country’s oil wealth reaches the purses, pockets, and bank accounts of ordinary people.

While the PPP believes in trickle-down economics, we in the Opposition believe in the economics of the food cupboard and livable wages and incomes. The choices Guyanese will face at the next election could not therefore be more contrasting: on one hand, a stagnant or declining quality of life under the PPP and, on the other hand, a government led by us that puts the wellbeing of people first and at the centre of its concern, agenda and development.