Proposed cash transfers to citizens from expected oil revenues is going to be a defining issue at the upcoming general elections, according to WPA Executive David Hinds, who says the ruling APNU+AFC coalition risks losing supporters if it does not embrace the initiative, which has stirred a groundswell of support.
“We are hopeful that the president would do the right thing once he is apprised of popular support for it. The matter is going to be further complicated for him if the reports that the PPP is coming out in support of it is correct,” Hinds told Stabroek News on Thursday.
His views come in the wake of Minister of Foreign Affairs Karen Cummings saying that while the issue is still under “active consideration,” President David Granger is not in support of giving handouts but tying revenue from oil and gas to developmental policies and programmes such as free education. She made the comments at a recent New York town hall meeting.
“What my President is saying, is that education is the key…education is key. We are not going to give a man a fish [or] handouts. We don’t want Guyanese to say, ‘give me this, give me that’ or lining up in a line for handouts. We want to empower our women, we want [to] empower people; to teach them to fish. That is where we will have some of the money going – free education from nursery to university,” Cummings further told a press conference on Wednesday.
The minister said that personally, she takes a biblical stance. “I want to answer it this way, biblically speaking…after God is money and money answereth all things. So money has its place. If you want to go to the shop to buy a soap, you need money. So, money is important. But the bottom line is, in terms of development, you don’t want to give just like that. You have to have some kind of plan to roll out this cash transfer if we are to have it. I think right now, it is still in active consideration,” she added.
Hinds said that when Cummings gives the State’s view and a similar personal one, she has to because she must repeat her president’s stance.
“Well, she is just repeating the president’s stance. I hope he changes that stance when the parties eventually sit down to formally discuss the issue because it is going to be a defining issue at the election; it could split the coalition’s base. It could also expose the coalition as a sham whereby the leader of one party overrides two partners and, in the process, goes against the wishes of the majority of his supporters. From our interactions in almost two dozen communities, the policy proposal is very popular among the base. So the leader will have to take all of that into consideration. The WPA intends to make it a campaign issue whether the president and his party agrees or not,” Hinds emphasised.
“The minister’s position in New York that the matter is being considered seems to reflect her honest wishes. I think that the majority of ministers hold that view. But of course they have to follow the leader,” he added.
Hinds said that the APNU+AFC coalition should not scoff at the issue of cash handouts as he pointed out that it makes various donations across the country that are similar to handouts.
“The truth of the matter is that the government itself is busy giving so-called handouts to people in selected communities. I will never denigrate as handouts, the president’s initiatives whereby he gives boats and bicycles to communities because those things make a difference in people’s lives,” he posited.
“I will never say it’s better to teach a man to build a bicycle or a boat than give him one. I know better. So we hope that the cash transfer proposal is eventually treated as what it is – a serious policy initiative aimed at eradicating and pre-empting poverty in Guyana,” he added.
While addressing a forum at Friendship, East Coast Demerara back in 2018, WPA Executive Dr Clive Thomas had proposed cash transfers. He had said, “I believe that some portion of the net cash flow from oil should be dedicated and be given as cash transfers to every single household in this country….”
Thomas has contended that regardless of what multilateral agencies may advise, Guyanese must pressure the government to tap monetary rewards from oil revenues if this country wants to have true equity and see a real lowering of poverty. The economist made it clear that he does not see cash transfers to the populace as a waste of resources, contending that based on the evidence, cash transfers are the single most effective means of combatting poverty.
Hinds said that while many persons have focused on the US$5,000 figure that was floated, the party wants it made clear that it might not be possible and that was why the WPA indicated “10 per cent of what you get.”
He explained: “So if you take in $100 million, you spend $10 million on cash transfers.”
Hinds also pointed out that Thomas was clear that cash transfers would have to be phased in. He added that he does not believe that people would be annoyed if the figure is not US$5,000 but would appreciate whatever the 10 per cent works out to.
