Though signalling her support for sections of it, Opposition Member Tabitha Sarabo-Halley has said that Budget 2023 lacks balance between human and infrastructural development.
Sarabo-Halley said on Monday last that while she sees the needs for infrastructural development, “… If it is that we decide we are going to utilise the majority of our budget to focus on capital and infrastructure works and not as much on human development then I think we are going in the wrong direction… We need to find… that balance.”
She pointed out that during Minister of Public Service Sonia Parag’s presentation, there was no mention of what policies are being put in place for public servants to professionally develop their skills. Sarabo-Halley, who is shadow minister of Public Service, stressed that this should have been an area of focus, but instead the minister spent her time speaking of the GOAL scholarships.
The opposition member said many Guyanese were expecting more direct rewards to lift them away and up from the poverty line. She said the minuscule increases in old age pension and public assistance under the Ministry of Human Service and Social Protection allocation made little to no difference.
Under this year’s budget, old-age pension will move from $28,000 to $33,000, while public assistance will increase to $16,000 from $14,000.
“I wouldn’t say that I disagree with everything, there are some projects that I think are good for the country, but what I think needs to be understood… Now that we are getting money from [the] oil, the man in the street is expecting to get a little bit more of that than they are currently getting,” she said to applause from her opposition colleagues. The former public service minister also stated that the budget should have catered for initiatives that allow people in the streets to benefit financially from oil revenues.
“Is there any policy in the budget that deals with that? After this year they will see the roads, they will see the bridges, they see the capital projects but still can’t feed their families,” she emphasised. The member also used her time to call out government ministers for failing to highlight projects and programmes catered for in the budget in their addresses to the National Assembly. She said the allocated time to debate the budget should not be heavily focused on what was not done in the past, but rather, used to highlight what the nation will be benefiting from to improve their lives.
Singling out Education Minister Priya Manickchand and Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony, she said the rest of the ministers gave no insight into what the budget is focused on. “Here is where you let the Guyanese people know, you are coming for ($781 billion) and this is what we plan to do with it,” she pointed out.
“More is required of us, more is demanded of us, with this oil economy, with these oil resources. I think we should do more for the people and if it is that we can work together to get that done I think we can be in a better place in this country,” she said.
She further called on her government colleagues to move away from the discord showcased in the House to change the attitude of society.
“There is such a divisiveness that has seeped into society that I think we need to recognise it. Sometimes we live off of it because we think it is the best thing to do and have our country live off of it… to determine where your votes will come from…but we need to do better,” she posited. In a plea, she asked the government to refrain from wielding all the power and end the discrimination and marginalisation against persons who don’t support their views. “Better should be expected of you and demanded of you,” she stated.
