Social Cohesion, distributional conflicts and the 50% salary increase

Previous Development Watch columns made the point that the heavy handed and non-transparent manner in which the PPP went about governance often magnified the perceptions of corruption. The reaction was cynicism from the public and non-cooperation from the pre-2015 opposition. Now that there is a new government “PPP businesses” like New GPC appear to be under pressure. The APNU-AFC government sees the multiple sourcing of drugs as much needed diversification to introduce competition. No doubt the government might be responding to the constant nastiness written over at Guyana Times, therefore conflating that newspaper with New GPC. The New GPC, however, is one of the dying breeds of manufacturing in Guyana. A more cohesive society would have seen the potential in public procurement for building and preserving domestic production capacity. Just like the PPP of old, the new government’s procurement system incentivizes imports rather