The Government has already distributed almost 40,000 house lots, after promising in its Elections 2020 manifesto to distribute 50,000 house lots. The Opposition and a small group of privileged anti-Government activists had declared that the promise was unattainable.
For this week alone, Government has distributed more than 2,000 house lots.
Bewildered, scratching their heads on how to respond, one of the Opposition activists deemed the Government a house lot vendor, selling house lots to the population.
The Opposition, when they had their turn between 2015 and 2020, barely delivered a few house lots, and mainly to themselves. If the house lots’ distribution is merely Government selling house lots, why did they not do it between 2015 and 2020, since it is one of the most popular policies among the public?
Another of their activists explained that oil money is responsible for development of the house lots. The problem is that one of the most popular accomplishments of the PPP Government prior to 2015, when there was no oil money, was its housing policy and its distribution of house lots.
President Ali has announced continuation of the housing policy to ensure that, by the end of the next term, should he return as President, every adult needing a house lot to build a house would have access to land. The house lots being distributed are heavily subsidised, with the Government bearing the bulk of the cost for a house lot.
Before house lots are distributed, housing schemes are developed, with streets, water, electricity, and drainage provided. There is no selling of house lots.
In fact, the World Bank, the IDB, the CDB and many Caricom countries have commended the PPP Government for its housing policy. The PPP Government has accumulated global awards for its housing policy. It is why people from even strongholds of the Opposition are migrating to the PPP. People want homes, and they know that without the development of housing schemes and house lots, they would be forced to become squatters.
It is why, before 1992, Guyana was known as a country of squatters. Thousands of people in areas such as Sophia, Angoy’s Avenue in New Amsterdam, Canvas City and other areas lived in deplorable conditions in some of the largest squatter communities in the Caribbean and Latin America. While there are still some people squatting, the PPP has brought the practice to an end, offering people house lots in planned communities.
Almost every single day, the PPP Government is making an announcement of new developmental projects or initiatives that support families. The Government has already delivered on all its promises in its Elections 2020 manifesto, and is now going beyond its 2020 promises.
The Opposition is in confusion, not knowing how to respond to the Government. The anti-Government Opposition surrogates are equally confused. Both the official Opposition and the small group of anti-Government sycophants have resorted to scraping the bottom of the barrel in a desperate search for things to oppose the Government.
A few weeks ago, the President announced a popular policy of eliminating tolls for river-crossings. Despite widespread support from the public, one senior PNC MP immediately rejected the policy, demanding the Government conduct a study first, before making a decision. The PNC Mayor of Linden rejected the announcement by the President, declaring that the announcement targeted the revenue of Linden. The same mayor had nothing to say in the following week when Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced that each municipality would have their annual subvention increased from $5M to $50M.
Last week, the President announced that all students sitting CXC and CAPE would have their fees paid for by the Government for up to eight subjects. This, too, was a popular policy declaration, supported by the overwhelming majority of Guyanese families. The Opposition, scratching their heads for a way to oppose the announcement, sent Ganesh Mahipaul to make himself a fool. He said that, come Elections 2025, when the PNC takes back the Government, the PNC would pay for up to ten subjects.
It was shocking to see an editorial in the Stabroek News also criticising the move by Government to eliminate the examination fees for up to eight subjects. The Stabroek News editorial wanted a feasibility study done before such a move was made. But there were other reasons why Stabroek News believed that elimination of examination fees was a bad idea. The Stabroek News believed that it is a bad idea because there is no reason for supporting those families who could afford the fees.
This is a newspaper that daily carries comments from persons about the cost of living; yet, when the Government added another way in a long list of initiatives to reduce cost-of-living for families, the newspaper is critical of the Government.
The Stabroek News editorial dug the publication deeper in shame by insisting that the new policy would see more children writing more subjects and contributing to a higher fail rate. We should not limit their freedom by making the choice unaffordable. This is really scraping the barrel for something to criticise the Government.
The Opposition and the anti-Government chorus are obsessed with feasibility studies. To be clear, there are initiatives and projects that require feasibility studies. In 2015, one of the first acts of the then PNC-led APNU/AFC Government was to terminate the School Cash Grant programme. One of their ministers insisted that it was unaffordable. Another one insisted they were conducting a study. Five years later, in 2020, they had not yet started the study. Now, recognising how popular the initiative is, they insist that should they come back in Government, they would give much more than the $50,000 per child.
The Opposition and their anti-Government surrogates are desperate because even scraping the bottom of the barrel produces nonsense. It is why they find it more productive quarrelling over who should be their presidential candidate.
