Dear Editor,
Leon Trotsky reminded us that the “depth and strength of human character are defined by its moral reserves.” Reading Dr Ashni Singh’s statement in the Guyana Chronicle, one is flummoxed by the attempt to distort the truth by someone who ought to know better. Is this the core skills-set of ministers these days?
While the Minister would want to submit himself to measuring the debt in US dollar terms, he cannot disregard the right of the Guyanese people to know the Guyana dollar amount of the National Debt. After all, the people of Guyana do not earn US dollar salaries. Would it be an act of insurrection if the people are informed of the debt figure in Guyana dollars? If the Minister disputes these Guyana dollar figures, all he has to do is present an alternative number for scrutiny. There is no need to dive into the gutter. Attacking Mr Moses Nagamootoo will not save the nation from the burden we all have to carry as a people since no organization of repute, be it the IMF or the World Bank or even the ordinary man trusts the accuracy of the figures coming out of the government.
To date Minister Singh has not disputed the fact that the government was responsible for borrowing of $93 billion more in debt than the PNC left us in 1992. This revelation by Mr Nagamootoo has forever buried the myth that the PNC borrowed more than the PPP. And we have not even considered all the pipeline debt that Mr Jagdeo lined up hurriedly before he vacated office.
Why run on public TV and try to defend the indefensible? It is a national shame and disgrace that the government has failed the people, and most importantly destroyed the vision of Cheddi Jagan who was committed to a lean and clean administration.
Please find below a more comprehensive picture of the debt situation:
National Budget and the Bank of Guyana Quarterly Bulletin
Why 2007? That was the year when Guyana had the lowest debt position under the PPP. The year 2007 exposes how much has been borrowed over the last five years: $202 billion at an average of $40 billion per year.
If one is to look at 2012 versus 1992 then the debt per each child born in Guyana went up to $543,440 in March 2012. For those in the working class, this is more than one year’s wages.
We call on the AFC and civil society to engage in a campaign of mass education of the people on the issue in every village, dam and street. Walter Rodney did this in 1979 and Burnham buckled then. It is time for Freedom House to buckle under people’s power. The people, especially the Indians and Amerindians must be informed of the reasons why a vote for the PPP is a vote for economic destruction.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Asquith Rose
Harish S Singh
