President Irfaan Ali has labelled 2021 the year of recovery and declared that the Guyanese economy is already improving despite the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our business communities in Georgetown and elsewhere have reported better performances over this holiday season than any of the previous five years…even with the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ali stated in his New Year address to the Nation.
The President went on to assert that there is “more money in circulation and more disposable income in people’s pockets than our Country has witnessed in a long time.”
Ali has committed his government to improving the fortunes of every Guyanese in 2021 through equitably distribution of Guyana’s “bounty”, enhancing the health of the population and lifting the vulnerable in the society.
“We must not remain a rich country of poor people…the standard of living and the quality of life must be lifted for all,” he proclaimed.
Government will create opportunities for individual employment and identify for assistance communities disadvantaged by “geographic location”. Their needs will be assessed, solutions identified and plans implemented to change their circumstances.
“The change will not occur overnight…I intend to initiate that first step and to maintain a steady pace that will take us to that journey’s end,” he promised.
Addressing the continued impact of the pandemic, Ali acknowledged that COVID-19 would not disappear at midnight but remain a threat to the health of Guyanese and the fortunes of the commercial sector.
He stressed that the recently approved vaccines for the disease offer confidence over concern and hope over fear and said that Guyana’s government is working to secure vaccines to immunize the nation.
“Our goal is to inoculate all who are willing to accept the vaccine, starting with the most vulnerable,” he said while calling for the continued practice of mitigating measures such as wearing masks, sanitizing hands, gathering only in small groups and maintaining physical distancing.
The COVID-19 household cash grant project will enter its second phase in January as government moves to provide the more 16,000 secondary households not awarded the $25,000 in the first phase.
Ali stressed that government is also moving to assist those who were unable to meet their financial obligations because of the pandemic through the passage of the Hire Purchase Bill.
“Never again will anyone suffer the indignity of losing their household appliances by virtue of missing a payment,” he said of the Bill which seeks to make provision for the regulation of hire-purchases, credit sales, and conditional sale agreements.
If passed and enacted, the Bill will make it illegal for sellers or their agents to forcibly enter any premises to seize goods.
It also compels the sellers to allow the buyer the right to determine the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement and prevents sellers from absolving themselves of liability in cases where any person acting on their behalf in connection with the formation or conclusion of the agreement is found in default.
