Security reform and the increasing crime rate topped the budget debate presentation by PNCR-1G Parliamen-tarian Deborah Backer who sang a rhyme highlighting the gun problem facing the country.
Thursday afternoon the budget debate continued in the National Assembly and among the presenters from the PPP/C were Parliamentarians Gail Teixeira and Minister of the Public Service Dr. Jennifer Westford.
Backer asked Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh’s permission to rename the budget by the title of her presentation: Securing Our Nation, an Absolute Pre-requisite, followed by the 2007 Budget title: Building a Modern and Prosperous Guyana.
“We as a people,” the MP declared, “remain unsatisfied and alarmed as the country’s high crime rate continues.” Among the contentious issues that remain unresolved, she said, was the appointment of the Police Commissioner, noting that security of tenure is the hallmark of any office and especially the office of the Police Commissioner.
Acting Police Commis-sioner Henry Greene is yet to be confirmed although Presi-dent Bharrat Jagdeo has said publicly that he is doing a good job. But the president in January noted that he was in no hurry to confirm the appointment to the post.
“Who is in charge of the Guyana Police Force?”
Backer asked this question as she pointed out that the murder rates continued to rise from 125 in 2005 to 153 in 2006, a 22% increase and robbery under arms a 21% jump.
Even with the successes in 2006, she said, including the capture of persons for serious crimes, several crimes remained unsolved. Backer then cited the murders of journalist and activist Ronald Waddell and the Agricola massacre where eight persons died last year, among others.
The parliamentarian sang a rhyme called ‘guns, guns, one a penny, two a penny, guns, guns’ to stress the point of the prevalence of gun crimes.
“We have a gun problem. The question is what do we do?”
A call was made to hasten the passage of the gun laws legislation and Backer committed her party, saying that if the government called for a Sunday sitting of Parliament to pass the legislation “we will come on a Sunday.”
Refusing bail, she argued, was not the only measure of intervention in drug crimes and this would not solve the problem. “We continue to catch shrimp as the shark swim,” Backer declared, adding that “we have to up our intelligence.”
Violence against women and corruption also came under special scrutiny by the parliamentarian.
The country must move to get into double figures on the Transparency International corruption index, from position 121, she said, and must learn from other countries in the region like Barbados, which was ranked in the 20s. There was also a call to increase police salaries and for moral education to be re-introduced in schools, to teach the students the hallmarks of being a good citizen.
The Private Sector Com-mission was also asked to embark on a campaign with the banks to begin moving from a cash-based economy to using ‘plastic’ (credit cards, ATM cards). The snatching of millions of dollars in cash from businesses was cited as one reason why businesses should switch to plastic.
Quantum leaps
Teixeira, a former PPP/C minister of health, youth, sport and culture and home affairs, told the National Assembly that Guyana is different from what it was more than 20 years ago, declaring that Guyana had made quantum leaps in democracy in the last 40 years.
Speaking of the projects of growth in the budget she said that given the price of fuel on the world market and other shocks there is still a projected growth this year of 4.3%, following growth last year of 4.7%.
Our growth prospects, Teixeira said, was in keeping with projected growth figures of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Latin America and the Caribbean and in terms of performance the economy was in “good stead.”
Debt write-off, she said, of some US$330M from 2001 to 2006 has freed up more monies for social spending.
The debt write-off was also referred to as an indicator of good fiscal and financial management, which has gained the confidence of the international community. China, India and Venezuela were noted as countries that ranked high in assistance to Guyana and the investment by Cuba in our health sector was lauded as enabling the expansion of the sector.
Teixeira said that over 70% of the people can go to the public health system and they do, and over 90% of children attend the public education facilities. A sincere scrutiny of the budget, she said, will show an equitable distribution of funds. It was admitted by the parliamentarian that unemployment remains a challenge, but the government has established a variety of youth programmes to promote skills and Teixeira said that the private sector must be encouraged to take more risks and to expand into non-traditional areas of development.
The government, Teixeira said, can be criticized for not doing enough but the government has taken progressive steps in the country. The country needed a stronger culture of voluntarism, the parliamentarian observed, adding that 20% to 30% of the development projects in most countries were based on voluntarism.
Wage increases
Dr. Westford called for a public service with confidence and flexibility, and one which will be viewed as the preferred choice for the qualified.
Again it was pointed out that salaries have increased by 1,000% and Dr. Westford affirmed that the ministry is continuing dialogue with the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) and others, while identifying the GPSU as a major stakeholder. She also emphasized that the government is committed to a non-contentious relationship with the GPSU. Despite salary increases, Westford indicated that there is still room for improvement. Under the Professional Cadet Scheme the Public Service Ministry hopes to improve the employment of young professionals. It was also reiterated that hiring persons on a contractual basis does not necessarily mean that they are paid super salaries, since those opting for this forfeit gratuity.
