General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Bharrat Jagdeo on Friday made it clear to Berbicians that sugar estates closed by the current government would be reopened if his party wins the upcoming polls.
Jagdeo, who was speaking at the a public meeting at Arch Road, Rose Hall, Corentyne, seemingly sought to clear any doubts in the minds of Berbicians, including the many former sugar workers who erupted into cheers upon hearing his promise.
“We have decided that despite all that they are saying, we will reopen the sugar estates. The sugar estates have to be reopened to give energy back to this region,” he told the crowd packed with supporters from the Corentyne and Canje area.
He also promised that a PPP/C-led government would reduce the Value-Added Tax (VAT) on electricity and water so as to improve cost of living immediately, while reintro-ducing and increasing the children’s school grant, and that within the next five years pensioners would see an increase to $40,000 per month.
And with unprecedented revenues expected from oil production, Jagdeo told his audience that their future is at stake at the polls. “A lot is at stake. The future of Guyana is at stake. Your own future is at stake. The future of your children and the sectors in which you’re involved in,” he said, as he urged them to come out on March 2nd and make their votes count.
He said the oil revenues would be used for renewable energy initia-tives, an “aggressive crime fighting plan” to lower the crime rate, and substantial changes would be made to the healthcare system so as to ensure that each region has state-of-the-art medical facilities. He also said taxes will be removed from private education and private healthcare, while they would ensure that every school child is furnished with all textbooks.
He added that invest-ment will also be made to ensure proper drainage for rice farmers while also committing to removing taxes on fertilisers and pesticides. He said too that they would also be looking at the construction of a deep water harbour in the region which can create 10,000 jobs.
Jagdeo asserted that the previous PPP/C government was able to create wealth and employment without oil revenues. However, he lamented that he is now witnessing citizens who were gainfully employed under the PPP/C struggling to provide food for their families. “This is their record—a record of destruction,” he said as he charged that the current administration has no vision. “Guyanese, this oil wealth belongs to us, but Guyanese are not going to benefit from it with this corrupt cabal in place,” he added.
‘Broken promises’
He also reminded the gathering that the APNU+AFC in its campaign for the last general elections, which it won, promised no closure of sugar estates and then failed to keep its word. “[Khemraj] Ramjattan came right to Whim and he said it was a rumour of the People’s Progressive Party,” he said, while noting that workers were also promised increases.
However, Jagdeo then noted that under the APNU+AFC sugar workers haven’t seen any increase in all five years of its government and 7,000 workers were put on the ‘bread line,’ with indirect effects on thousands of others who relied on their income. “They broke their promise to the sugar workers… How can you trust any promise that they make?” he asked.
The thousands of layoffs in the region were due to the shuttering of the Rose Hall and Skeldon sugar estates as part of a move to downsize GuySuCo to make it more efficient.
According to Jagdeo, miners, farmers, university students, and vulnerable groups were among the stakeholders who were also made promises that have not been delivered upon. “That is why when they saw the PPP rallies in Lethem, many of them [government members] fell sick. They started making plans to leave the country already,” he claimed.
Jagdeo added that the APNU+AFC also used President David Granger’s background in the defence force to promise a lower crime rate but he said the murder rate continues to be high.
Jagdeo also told his supporters that the United States of America during a UN review stated that it was very concerned about the potential undermining of democratic principles, including the misapplication of the constitution.
“How can you say that anybody is honest or decent if you can’t respect the constitution of Guyana?” Jagdeo questioned.
He also highlighted Cabinet’s continued endorsement of public contracts, which he charged has been “illegally done… because the fiscal year came to an end in December 31st” and is benefitting “cronies.”
“…And then Granger has the audacity to talk about decency and honesty… This is the most dishonest, corrupt government in our entire history and that why we have to get rid of them on March 2,” he said.
President Granger at the APNU+AFC rally in New Amsterdam days earlier voiced his own befuddlement at Jagdeo constantly referencing him. In response, Jagdeo said on Friday, “I don’t criticize the man because I hate him personally. I hate his policies. I hate what he has done to our people. I hate the duplicity. I hate the dishonesty in his administration, that is what I hate. And he is not king Granger; he is an executive president… We don’t want ceremonial presidents in Guyana… he has to be accountable for his policies.”
