The curtains are about to come down on the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Each one of our athletes represented Guyana with pride, and we are grateful that we were able to watch them compete at the very highest level in sports. Just to be able to qualify is a distinction, and, as Guyanese, we must be proud that several of our young people made it to Paris. Medal or no medal, we could not be prouder of our athletes. We know that the future looks bright for our young sportsmen and women.
With better facilities and more support from Government, we are certain that future Olympics will see Guyana bringing home medals.
Budget 2024 provided $5B for sports development. New facilities in Regions 2, 3, 4, 6 and 10, and upgrading of facilities in other regions send the right signal that the GoG is serious about sports development.
Guyana is on the road to a better place. From a Highly-Poor-Indebted Country (HIPC) in the early 1990s, Guyana is now a high middle-income country. The country is beginning to look different. Our infrastructure is rapidly changing. Opportunities for better and higher education are abundant, and few countries can boast of the many opportunities for education and training. There are more opportunities for employment, business, home ownership, vehicle ownership, etc. Guyana is different, and we are no longer the basket-case of CARICOM. CARICOM now looks to Guyana for leadership. With the 25 X 25 agriculture revolution, Guyana is set to finally prove that we are the bread basket of CARICOM.
As we look at the world coming together in Paris, we recognize that, as a people, we must walk with the same unity we showed as we stood behind our athletes. With One Guyana, we can navigate to a better place for our country, a far better place than most would have dreamt of in 2000.
It takes a leap of faith sometimes.
When Janet Jagan as President and her cabinet gave generous terms to attract explorers to Guyana, she demonstrated vision. Unlike many others, she and her government did not give up hope that Guyana’s natural resources include oil and gas. Exxon and partners took up an offer when the entire oil and gas industry shunned Guyana. When the Government smartly signed the Exploration Agreement, they knew fully well that the generous offer can lead to a lucrative future for our country. That leap of faith, that vision, has paid off.
Even with the bad deal that the then PNC-led APNU/AFC government signed, Guyana is benefitting from the deal, and we can benefit even more.
That we will be a developed country is no longer an impossible dream; it is inevitable. Whether we reach there quickly or we reach there with sloth is up to us as a people. United, we will get there quickly. Divided, we will eventually make it there, disgustingly slow, but with too many wounds and disappointments. It is the reason why One Guyana is so important.
Back in 1999, I witnessed the swearing in of the then young Finance Minister of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, as our President. He quickly released a paper on building trust. Our politicians must learn to trust each other. This in no way means we must agree on everything. Indeed, in a vibrant democracy, we must have different ideas, views, approaches to solving issues and to make our country better. For example, how we rapidly transform sports so that we can ensure Guyanese bring home medals from the Olympics can generate competing ideas and vision. But unless we trust each other, the milieu in which these ideas can simmer and be thoughtfully and meaningfully incorporated into national policies remains remote.
The trust issue is one of Guyana’s biggest problems. It is not just politicians trusting each other; it is also a question of people trusting the politicians. One of the most unpopular policy decisions the previous government took was to impose a 2am curfew. They never acknowledged that the policy was a failed one. Now, in addressing a problem that Guyana faces – the rising road fatality and disability problem – the AFC politicians again threatened to impose this failed policy if they get back into government. Talk about being tone-deaf.
The backlash has been instantly fierce, forcing them to back-pedal. This same group of politicians had removed the Because We Care cash grant to school children and placed VAT on electricity and water. But they now propose a policy to share out 10.5% of the oil revenues. They did not tell the Guyanese people what that meant. As the VP pointed out, at the present rate of oil revenue generation, that gives Guyanese about G$35,000, or less than US$200 annually. The school children in 2025 will be getting $50,000 per year, and that is not sharing out oil money.
Sometimes we speak grandiosely to intentionally fool people. A political leader telling Guyanese that they will pass a law to share out 10.5% of all oil revenues sounds great, until you do the math. That is how people got fooled in 2011 and 2015. Sugar workers were promised 20% annual pay increases, rice farmers $9,000 per bag of paddy; and, in 2015, public servants were promised dramatic pay increases. The sugar workers, public servants and rice farmers got nothing in five years. The same government that had money to give themselves hefty pay increases told the public servants that the country was bankrupt and they must wait their turn. This is the conundrum we face – how can we talk to each other trusting that we all mean well.
It is why the court matter involving election rigging matters. Can we trust those in charge of our elections? Trust is critical for building unity. Unity will accelerate our development.