Government MPs Dharamkumar Seeraj and Parmanand Persaud have slammed criticisms from the opposition parties regarding the absence of consultations for Budget 2010.

On Monday evening during the debate on the 2010 Budget, Seeraj said that while persons may not have had direct interactions with Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, consultations were very much a part of the budget. He argued that for the PPP/C administration, this consultative process was an ongoing one and consultations for the next budget have already begun.

Further Seeraj, the General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association, also spoke about efforts being made to help rice farmers during the current El Niño weather phenomenon. He said monitoring was ongoing as well as efforts to source additional water for these farmers. He explained that these initiatives were undertaken to ensure that this year’s rice crop was not significantly affected by the unusual weather patterns.

Additionally, he stated that although many persons would wish for the budget to contain much more, these individuals needed to remember that it had been prepared in the context of a global financial crisis. He said it was “unreasonable” to expect more in this year’s budget even as he chided some Opposition members for saying that the budget had been long on words but lacking substance.

He said this year’s budget should make the nation proud since it would compare favourably with others from countries in the region. In fact, he argued that while Guyana had projected a positive growth rate in 2010, most other territories in the region were not expecting such.

Meanwhile, Persaud, who is the representative for Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), said that consultations were done in his region at the community level. According to him, community meetings were held throughout the region where the concerns of residents were noted.

According to Persaud, the region has experienced significant development in several sectors due to ongoing investments by the government. He said that this development was set to continue with the allocations made in this year’s budget.