In a fiery presentation to the National Assembly, APNU Member of Parliament, Vinceroy Jordan, said the national budget may be big in size but is small in containing measures to lift Guyanese out of poverty. He said the budget fails to address the cost of living complaint.

According to MP Jordan, the Budget exposes a lack of care and consideration for the working class by the Government.

“Mr. Speaker, this budget will keep Guyanese in poverty instead of transforming the lives and livelihoods of our people. It allocates the resources in a way that will not take people out of poverty,” he told the House.

Describing the Government as “uncaring”, MP Jordan reminded the House that the Inter- American Development Bank IDB has found that 58% of Guyanese are living in poverty, with 32% living in abject poverty.

Emphasizing that poverty in Guyana is real, MP Jordan challenged his colleagues visit those communities facing a survival crisis.

“But this government turns a blind eye and Honorable Ashni Singh comes to this house to tell us about “Putting the People First” with: $5000 increase to old age pensioners, $3000 increase to public assistance, no wage increases for public servants, no school transportation network for school children, no measures to reduce poverty, no direct measures to reduce the high cost of living. Mr. Speaker a 25 percent increase in public servants’ salaries, though in adequate would have signalled an interest in giving Guyanese a livable income. This budget fails to deliver,” MP Jordan said.

He said the budget will only benefit the “friends, families and favorities” of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration.

Focusing on the Agriculture Sector, MP Jordan said of the $113.2 Billion set aside for the sector, $81.9 Billion will go towards infrastructural works.

He argued that at least 40% of the funds could be wasted as a result of poor designs and placements.

He said while the Government said it is working to increase food production and achieve food security, it has only allocated $1.9 Billion for livestock and $3.3 billion to other crops.

“Mr Speaker, were this government serious about bringing down the cost of living, every region would have had a sound plan for the development of sustainable agriculture. That would have increase food production and contribute to reduction of the price of food, ensuring food availability and security. On this score the Budget is a failure. Mr. Speaker, what happens to the cash crop farmers, what happens to those in: fruit and vegetables production, those in eschalot and the various seasonings, those small farmers into dairy and meat production, those into poultry, and those that supply our fish and eggs,” he argued.

He said to compound the situation, the Government allocated $200 Million to finance the Fisheries Sector, while it continues to inject billions into the Sugar Industry.

“Mr. Speaker, this government is complicit in the mismanagement, incompetence, and underperformance of GuySuCo. They are hell bent on continuing to use GuySuCo as a political pawn to only get votes from a certain section of the sugar belt. They have no proper plan for GuySuCo. While billions are wasted each year, targets are missed, revised-revised targets are missed, and growth is measured on an already failed performance, we in the APNU Coalition have concluded that money is not the problem with GuySuCo but rather it is this government and its unwillingness to embrace change and produce a proper plan for the sugar industry,” MP Jordan said.

He submitted further that sugar is being produced by GuySuCo at an average cost of US $1.31 cents per pound while it is being sold at US $0.17 per pound – a loss of US $1.14 on every pound of sugar sold.

He said APNU has long argued that Sugar Industry must be right-size and diversified.

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