Opposition Member of Parliament, Khemraj Ramjattan today said that this year will be a difficult year for Guyanese due to the continuous rise in the cost of living, with little intervention by the government in the 2024 National budget. 

Opening Day 2, of the 2024 Budget Debate, the AFC Leader said ordinary Guyanese are finding it difficult to survive, while the state of poverty is not being addressed.

“It is a sickening situation and we are not seeing that poverty is being confronted, as I have said on other occasions, people who cannot afford two-square meals in Guyana are not going to be free—because poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity anywhere,” Ramjattan said.

The Opposition MP said there is enough space in the Budget to put more money into the pockets of citizens, pointing out that more than half of the budget is dedicated to infrastructure in various form. 

He said the government must show the will to confront poverty now before things get further out of hand.

“A nation must invest in ending poverty and its working poor must get a better deal. I feel that, that has nothing happen with a budget, we feel that this money should be more spread across rather than been given to what I regard to about a thousand contractor-cronies, capitalists who will benefit from the capital expenditure,” Ramjattan said.

The AFC leader said it is important that the country does not find itself in a situation where it is embarrassed, since poverty and shame induce shame and embarrassment.

Ramjattan said he has been visiting many areas and there is a united cry from citizens who feel that they have been abandoned by the Government.

He said, the country now has a paradigm shift that demands consensus between the Government and Opposition to deal with the challenges such as poverty.

“But I don’t know if we are going to have that, because as a matter of fact, we feel that these people do not want to be persuaded by any argument that comes from the other side. We need in relation to this matter, a leadership which cultivates an ethic of genuine care, compassion and concern for every human being,” Ramjattan noted. 

The AFC leader said there should have been a more balanced approach in the distribution of budgetary funds. He also called on the Government to have a better monitoring system in place for Government projects. He said many projects are running behind schedule, while the same defaulting contractors are being gifted with more contracts.

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