President Irfaan Ali delivered a masterstroke on Thursday last in his address to the opening sitting of the new session of theNational Assembly. What was anticipated to be a routine report to the nation about progress made over the past year and prospects for the coming year, turned out to be much more. The President used the opportunity to announce a wide-ranging series of proposals designed to immediately reduce the impact of the cost of living and improve the standard of living of the Guyanese people, among other initiatives. The flagship proposal, and the one that is receiving the most attention, is the one-time cash payment of $200,000 to every household. This utilization of the resources of the Guyanese people at this Christmas time to provide to them direct benefits, will go a far way to ease the burden of the cost of living that many have been complaining about.
Of course, those claiming ownership of a very old idea, which has long been implemented in many parts of the world, claim that it is not enough. The same people claim, when funds are withdrawn from the Natural Resources Fund for development purposes, that “inter-generational” wealth is being dissipated. Many are caught in the contradiction of advocating the distribution of resources to directly benefit Guyanese and at the same time to save those resources to build “inter-generational” wealth! I have pointed out before, as have others, that Norway did not save for twenty years after the production of oil began. It used the resources to build the country’s infrastructure and to provide benefits for its people. That also is “inter-generational”wealth. Norway’s sovereign fund is now one of the largest in the world.
The President announced a new minimum salary for government employees of $100,000 a month by the end of 2025. While $100,000 is not an exceptional salary, there are many government employees not yet earning that amount and so are an even larger number and proportion of employees in the private sector. All of the private sector may not wish, or be able,to match this amount at this time. But the standard having been established by the Government through President Ali’s announcement, the pressure on the private sector will undoubtedly mount. Pressure of higher salaries is also growing because of a shortage of skilled and other workers and qualified staff in the professions. In this connection the President indulged in some self-congratulations for the increase in salaries to teachers. The teachers’ strike generated great sympathy and teachers demonstrated militancy and a determination to continue the strike. These factors forced the momentum for collective bargaining at which the government agreed to a generous settlement.
The abolition of fees for the University of Guyana which was long promised will be implemented from 2025. This is an emotive issue among supporters of the PNC who view it as a legacy of Leader of the PNC, Forbes Burnham. Few ever mention that the policy of “free education from nursery to university” was an absolute disaster because in the first instance the government could not afford it and in the second instance, as the economy tanked in the 1980s, the education system, including the University of Guyana, degenerated substantially. I am not a fan of free university education because it is subject to the vagaries of government spending priorities. While education has always been a priority for PPP governments there are timeswhen, in the competition for scarce resources, the University of Guyana was badly short-changed. I do not believe that even today Guyana has the resources to provide top class university education. Nevertheless, the decision is a popular one and it gives PNC supporters the opportunity to pampazette about the PNC Leader being the initiator of the idea. He was also the initiator of the idea that Guyana scholars must study at the University of Guyana and the students must spend a year in national service before obtaining their degree.
President Ali announced the modernization of many systems across the spectrum involving the expenditure of large sums. Among these are the development of digitalization and the establishment of the Guyana Digital School; the enhancement of the justice system with the appointment of magistrates and judges, although no mention was made about the appointment of a Chancellor and Chief Justice; reform of the procurement system although no mention was made about the elimination of nepotism about which Vice President has been recently speaking and steps to create diversity; climate change; health care; manufacturing; women, youth and the elderly; climate change; national security. It is not possible to outline the details of the proposals made by President Ali.
The Opposition boycotted the sitting of the National Assembly,carried out a picketing exercise outside the premises and issued a lengthy statement complaining about many issues. Space does not permit an enumeration of the matters raised by the Opposition, but they are many, they are familiar and some are long standing. I have even mentioned some of them in the past such as meetings of Standing Parliamentary Committees. But President Ali’s address will overwhelmingly transform the political discourse leading up to Christmas and the elections next year, quite apart from improving the lives of the Guyanese people.