People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, responding to an editorial published by Stabroek News on Wednesday on the third anniversary of the government opined that it deflected the major successes of his party’s administration.
“This editorial actually could have possibly been written by Glen Lall in the Stabroek News, it is a vile editorial. Normally I am generous to them, but in three years, they found not one positive thing that the PPP has done”, the General Secretary lamented.
According to Jagdeo, the editorial painted a negative image of the incumbent regime during its 3 years in office.
The PPP/C took its oath of office on August 2, 2020.
The editorial, in an examination of the administration’s three years in office, noted that “President Irfaan Ali and his government will undoubtedly trumpet this triennium as transformational and reflective of prudent management and a judicious sharing of the bounty but the reality is quite different.”
It also referenced the “weekly interviews by this newspaper with people from all around the country,” which served to highlight that “the cost of living continues to buffet and immiserise”.
Further, the argument was made that “Without the oil economy it may well have been that these people would have been even worse off but taking account of the petroleum revenues that have been flowing into the country since December 2019, the salt of the earth quite naturally expect the calculus to be different and positive.”
Additionally, the editorial mentioned that “the people of this country are yet to see regulatory rigour over the petroleum industry, despite a firm commitment three years ago, by government to present legislation for a Petroleum Commission to regulate and oversee all aspects of the industry.”
A visibly agitated Jagdeo underscored that the absence of the petroleum commission doesn’t make the industry susceptible to mismanagement, since in the interim, this task is delegated to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
He reminded of the newly drafted Petroleum Activities Bill (2023) which will replace the archaic 1986 Petroleum Exploration & Production Act. He said that the bill has robust and stringent provisions, which will effectively regulate and oversee all aspects of the industry.
The General Secretary opined that this newspaper was oblivious of the major headway made under the ruling PPP/C since August 2020.
