There is no doubt that Guyana has made tremendous progress in every area of life in the years since 1992 when the PPP/C was first elected to office. Most people, including me, believe that in some, or even many, areas more could have been done, or things could have been done differently. But this does not detract from the fact that visible and substantial progress has been made so that the lives of Guyanese people are measurably better that they were twenty years ago.
CO-OPERATIVES AS A VEHICLE FOR DEVELOPMENT
Guyana is still officially named “The Co-operative Republic of Guyana.” The name was devised at the time when Guyana discovered its own path to socialism – through co-operatives. Thus Guyana’s theory of co-operative socialism was reflected in its name.
The spectacular collapse of “co-operative socialism” and the co-operative movement led to the complete abandonment of co-operatives as a method of economic organization. Thousands of people had lost millions of dollars which had been invested in agricultural, housing and other types of co-operatives. Bad management and corruption in a situation of declining economic growth had taken their toll.
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INCREASING INVESTMENT
A news report said that a World Bank team was in Guyana to discuss with officials the “adopting of modern legislation that will allow customers to offer assets other than real estate as guarantees for loans.” This is welcome news. But this work has already been done.
In the mid 1990s a Canadian expert visited Guyana and examined our laws for the same purpose. He made several visits and spent several months on the project. He finally produced a report which is gathering dust on a shelf somewhere. It is not clear from the newspaper report if the authorities are aware of this report.
T. E. S. P. A. AND THE WORKERS OF DIAMOND ESTATE
T.E.S.P.A. is the lawyers’ acronym for the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act. It was passed in 1997 and is one of the most important pieces of legislation in the history of Guyana. Its objective is “to provide for the conditions governing termination of employment and grant of redundancy or severance pay to employees and for matters connected therewith.”
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THE AMALIA FALLS HYDRO PROJECT
The President’s announcement that the US$15 million contract for the access roads to the Amalia Falls, in preparation for the construction of the hydro power facility, has long been awaited. It comes after years of effort by Synergy Holdings and creative assistance by President Jagdeo in encouraging Synergy and in assisting to secure the financing. This expenditure alone, a small part of the US$450 million project, will create many, much needed jobs.
Synergy Holdings has been doggedly persistent. Even when oil prices were too low to make hydro an attractive alternative to oil, it never gave up. Now that all the circumstances have come together – confidence in the economy, high oil prices, support from the international banking community and, of critical importance, President Jagdeo’s support – Synergy’s confidence in the ultimate acceptance of its proposal has paid off, for the company and shareholders no doubt, but big time for Guyana.