GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The minority opposition Alliance For Change (AFC) Tuesday unveiled an eight-point alternative economic development plan while blasting the Guyana government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) as “being at the whims of global deal making and political uncertainties”.
In a prepared statement, the AFC debunked the much-publicised LCDS as an unrealistic development model explaining that the Bharrat Jagdeo government has “placed all our financing eggs in one basket and is jeopardising the welfare of the masses of bauxite workers, sugar workers, housewives, farmers, public servants and others”.
While the AFC is of the view that Guyana should not ignore the potential for obtaining small amounts of finance from the global US$10 billion funds, it noted “we believe our energies should be directed elsewhere so as to modernise the production structure, and enhance competitiveness and capabilities of the Guyana economy”.
AFC said the party “does not believe that the LCDS is a realistic model for development financing, and that essentially the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has placed the development financing of the
nation at the whims of global deal making and political uncertainties.
“It is unfortunate that after the debacle at Copenhagen, President Jagdeo is still bullish that Guyana can obtain a substantial cut of the proposed pitiful US$10 billion funds made available by the powerful
nations which run the world.”
The opposition party said it appears “as though the President …will now personally run off on a new round of global escapades to try to draw down on the pitiful US$10 billion that has to be shared among vulnerable poor countries”.
According to the AFC, the government is short-sighted by choosing to “enter into short-term relationships with bilateral donors to obtain ‘small change’ to keep the government’s current expenditures going.
“However, the short-term aid strategy of cash flow maintenance does not lead to fundamental transformation and independently verifiable job creation.”
The party said that its eight point plan would mobilise domestic savings through financial market development, establish a state development bank that would help “deepening financial markets and complementing the commercial banks, and foreign direct investments (FDIs).
The strategy also includes garnering finance from the Diaspora; pursuing bilateral development financing for fundamental projects; multilateral financing through the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and similar financial agencies; and providing tax incentives for domestic and overseas Guyanese investors.
“However, these must be tied to performance measures of businesses,” the AFC said, adding that its blueprint will also include a refocus on Guyana’s foreign policy.
