16 news
SUnDAY, october 20, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com
Granger tells Berbicians to get into manufacturing ...sommersaults on plantain chips recommendation
I
n what is considered a complete backpedalling of his previous advice to young Guyanese, President David Granger is now calling on Berbicians to stop selling plantain chips at the Berbice River Bridge and get into manufacturing instead. The Head of State made this statement on Friday in the country’s oldest town as he declared the 2019 New Amsterdam Town Week open. In October of last year at Rose Hall Town, Corentyne, the President, responding to a question from a young lady about the availability of job opportunities as promised on the 2015 campaign trail said “The possibilities of employment with the Government are limited but the possibilities of self-employment are unlimited. When you ask what are the job opportunities and about the brain drain, I tell you that you don’t have to run and leave because this is the land of promise and opportunities. Young people must learn to go out and create jobs and there are so many possibilities here in East
Berbice, anytime you go by the Bridge [Berbice River Bridge] you see people with these big laundry baskets selling plantain chips. That is business, don’t laugh at them”. The Guyanese leader has been saying that there is scope for Guyana’s growth by selling plantain chips and cook-up rice. However, former President and economist Bharrat Jagdeo, who is the current Opposition Leader, has slammed the President’s idea of job creation, saying that an economy cannot be run on planPersons selling plaintain chips at the Berbice River Bridge tain chips. The President had de- see something happening in have the expertise [and] you fended his “plantain chip Guyana”. have the resources. This reeconomy” proposal in the But now, the Head of gion has all of the most impast, saying that “It may State is suggesting that per- portant ecological geographstart with plantain chips… sons stop selling plantain ical zones. It has coastland, small things could end up chips at the Berbice Bridge it has grassland called the big… Some people call it and get into manufactur- intermediate savannahs, it the plantain chip economy. ing. He said Region Six (East has high land in the south; I would like those same peo- Corentyne-Berbice) should the New River area, it has ple to go to the regional ex- get more into agro-process- hilly sand and clay zone,” the hibitions which we have been ing. President stated. holding around the country “Region Six can produce Region Six, he went on and see women coming out enough processed food for to say, has become the ecoof Yupukari and Hiawa, see the entire Caribbean. My nomic engine of the east of housewives getting into the friends, you have the poten- Guyana – a region which is microeconomy; and you can tial, you have the land, you rich in resources and agricul-
tural produce. Bauxite, rice and sugar, he noted, are some of the commodities coming out of the region thus making it the agricultural heartland of the country. Half of the sugar and a quarter of the rice produced in Guyana come from Region Six alone. The region also produces a substantial portion of fish, cattle and livestock along with more than twenty-five per cent of the vegetables grown in Guyana. As it relates to fruits, Region Six produces more than twenty per cent of what the country produces. Despite this, however, the President said the region is not doing enough. To this end, he pointed out that agro-processing is the way forward. “Stop celling plantain chips at the Berbice River Bridge...,” the Head of State stressed. Zeroing in on New Amsterdam and Town Week activities, President Granger said as the town celebrates its 128th anniversary as a municipality, it is a time to
celebrate the town’s rich history and heritage. Meanwhile, the Town’s Mayor, Winifred Haywood, boasted that over the past year, New Amsterdam has made great strides with the rehabilitation of the Bermine Ground and the synthetic track, which is currently being constructed at the Burnham Park. The restoration of the Esplanade Park and the street lighting project were also heightened by Her Worship. Among the activities planned for the one-week programme are the Mayors Ball, birding competition, inter-school debating competition, senior citizens breakfast, high school basketball competition, all-white cocktail party, male empowerment pageant, domino competitions, softball cricket competitions, poetry competition, big people party one-man band, medical outreaches, renaming of streets in Stanleytown, a street fair and exhibition. The week of activities will conclude on November 3, with a duck curry competition and cooler fete.
Major AFC financier cites Guyana’s economic woes in split from party
A
major Alliance For Change (AFC) financier, who has backed the party for years, has parted ways with the party to found a party of his own, citing Guyana’s economic woes and the business acumen he can contribute. Pegasus Hotel owner Robert Badal has been behind the AFC since 2011 and actively campaigned with them during General and Regional Elections. He has, in turn, been appointed to head State boards, such as the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), when A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the AFC came to power. But after reports abounded that he had split with the AFC and formed a new party alongside former AFC member and auditor Nigel
Hinds, Badal confirmed on Saturday that he had indeed parted ways with the party. He noted the current economic woes caused by the inability of Government to lay out a comprehensive strategy. “In the midst of abundant natural resources, our country remains among the poorest in the region in terms of per capita income. We remain stuck in time while other neighbouring countries continue to accelerate,” Badal said. According to Badal, the State has “failed to address the challenges of the day and provide the opportunities for growth and economic upliftment of Guyanese, which has triggered spiralling crime, domestic violence, mass migration and utter hopelessness among
Khemraj Ramjattan
Moses Nagamootoo
Pegasus owner Robert Badal
Raphael Trotman
our youths”. He noted the business experience he and Hinds have, which, he said, would be put to work in the various sectors. He also promised accountability and transpar-
The defection of two of its prominent civil society members will not be welcome by the AFC, which is at a sensitive juncture as it is in negotiation with APNU on a revision of the Cummingsburg
AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan was elected as his party’s preferred Prime Ministerial candidate earlier this year, but members of APNU have shown a preference for the incumbent PM, Moses Nagamootoo. There have even been reports that APNU might ditch the formula altogether and choose a candidate from within its own ranks. While Ramjattan has publicly expressed confidence that he will be picked, President David Granger himself earlier this month noted that he has not decided on his Public Security Minister as his running mate and had noted that it will have to be discussed. The fact that AFC’s electoral returns have diminished over the years has also been repeatedly cited by analysts in arguing that the party’s standing in the coalition has weakened. At last year’s Local Government Elections (LGE), the AFC failed to win a single Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC). Prior to the General and Regional Elections of 2015,
APNU and the AFC signed the Cummingsburg Accord that stipulated conditions for the two parties to contest the elections as one. But throughout this marriage, the AFC was criticised, especially by the parliamentary Opposition, for what many describe as the submissive role it has been playing since joining forces with APNU. Decisions such as the closure of sugar estates, putting thousands of sugar workers out of jobs have gone unchallenged and even been supported by the AFC. This is despite the fact that the Ministry of Agriculture is held by a party member, Noel Holder. In addition, there has been the strategic re-allocation of responsibilities away from Ministries headed by AFC officials, to other Ministries. There is also the fact that despite the Cummingsburg Accord stipulating the Prime Minister, in this case Moses Nagamootoo, have responsibility for chairing Cabinet and domestic issues, this was not followed through.
“The State has failed to address the challenges of the day and provide the opportunities for growth and economic upliftment of Guyanese, which has triggered spiralling crime, domestic violence, mass migration and utter hopelessness among our youths,”— Robert Badal ency and noted that the party’s official launch is scheduled for October 29, 2019.
Accord and the selection of a Prime Ministerial candidate for the coalition.