Address by Brigadier David Granger, MSS President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana at the Opening of the 11th Parliament, Georgetown, on 10th June 2015.

Guyanese today, celebrate the opening of their 11th Parliament since the achievement of Independence forty-nine years ago on 26th May 1966.  This Parliament will have the honour of leading this country into its 50th anniversary of Independence celebrations next year.  It will have the duty of charting the destiny of this great nation for the next five years until 2020.

Social cohesion

Your Government recognises today that our fore-parents came from four continents.   We, their heirs and successors, resolve to work together to pursue the ideal of making Guyana ‘One Nation.’ We must, in so doing, combine our efforts, concentrate our energy and endeavour to defeat the real enemies of our people – crime, disease, ignorance and poverty.

Your Government acknowledges the democratically-expressed will of the people of this great country as expressed in the results of the recent general and regional elections.  We are guided by a ‘One Nation’ policy that will bring enormous benefits to Guyana.  We envisage the elimination of one-party domination of the government; the enhancement of local, municipal and parliamentary democracy; the elimination of ethnic insecurity; the expansion of economic enterprise; the enrichment of cultural life and the deepening of national consciousness.

Your Government has an obligation, over the next five years until 2020, during the legal life of the 11th Parliament, to fulfil the aspirations of our founding fathers. We now therefore, reaffirm our determination to continue the task of working towards achieving national unity and towards making Guyana ‘One Nation.’

Your Government seeks first and foremost to eliminate extreme poverty.  Our Poverty Reduction Plan will adopt a ‘One Nation’ approach, reducing inequalities, removing obstacles to education, opening opportunities to the disadvantaged and uniting coastland and hinterland.  We shall introduce social policies that will harness and develop the creative energies of our people and that will support the holistic development of our women and youth.

Your Government is aware that too many very young and very old persons are still classified as ‘extremely poor’ with an expenditure level that is below what is required to purchase a minimum, daily, low-cost diet. Poverty can be reduced and, perhaps, eventually eradicated with good governance and the sensible public policies that we shall introduce. 

The fight against poverty cannot be won through charitable handouts.  Neither will trickledown economics be the panacea for pauperisation and privation.  Providing jobs for our people — particularly our young people — will be one of our priorities.  Today in our country there is a crisis of youth unemployment.   Many of our young people are leaving school and university but are unable to find jobs.  Without jobs they cannot escape from the cycle of poverty.
We shall continue to introduce measures to establish young people’s economic independence and to improve their livelihood by promoting micro-enterprise development.  Our policy will be geared to finding ways to increase wealth to give people a good life.  Everyone, both rich and poor, stands to benefit if poverty is eradicated.  It is not our intention to deprive the rich in order to help the poor.  We shall involve all classes in the fight against poverty. 

We will wage war against poverty under a social compact characterised by an inclusionary process.  Such an approach would boost national confidence and allow for the mobilisation of the material and human resources needed for the tasks at hand.  We met the leaders of our private sector who will organise a forum that will bring together business, the trade unions, the political parties and civil society.  At this forum, we will work to develop a ‘social contract’ that will guide the economy for the next five years until 2020. 

We feel that a vibrant labour movement is essential for social security, a fairer society, effective governance and national development.  We aim at resolving social conflict, reducing poverty, improving productivity, strengthening democracy, and enhancing the people’s quality of life.  

We shall implement measures to instate ‘inclusionary democracy’ and social cohesion in every municipality, every neighbourhood, every region and in the National Assembly.  We shall together resume our work, both through the legislative process in this Assembly and in the country at large, to engage the major sections of society – including other political parties – to realise our common quest for consensus on a national programme to move the country forward.  We shall continue to work to harness the talents of a broader constituency, to foster the conditions for social cohesion, to deepen the democratic process and to develop the economy.

Your Government will revise relevant labour legislation to support all legally constituted and functioning trade unions to enable them to better represent the needs of workers.  We shall towards this end, give effect to the Motion passed in the 10th Parliament to restore the annual subvention to the Critchlow Labour College.

Your Government will introduce measures to promote social cohesion and protect vulnerable groups.  We shall work towards healing the rifts between social groups in the country.  We shall re-establish cordial relationships with civil society, religious organisations and trade unions.  We have the responsibility to restore the integrity and viability of working people’s and non-governmental organisations which have been gravely undermined. 

Guyana cannot become ‘One Nation’ if gross disparities persist between the hinterland and the coastland, between the educated few and a semi-literate mass and between the very rich and very poor.  We shall foster the growth of a united nation in which cooperation prevails over confrontation.

Your Government will undertake to ensure equitable access of all Guyanese – whether they live on the coastland or in the hinterland, or whether they are poor or rich – to good health care.   The primary health care system is failing women, children and the aged.   The system was meant to promote equity and social justice.  It should be seen as an initiative to make health services more accessible to the people. 

We shall empower our womenfolk to enable them to look forward to working for ‘living wages’ and to cope with the cost of living.  We shall fashion a more friendly society in which old folk can enjoy adequate pensions and social protection.   We will build a country in which women and girl children can expect to live in safety and to being protected from abuse and violent crime.

Economic growth

Your Government envisages a prosperous Guyana.  We shall craft a long-term, national economic strategy that will ensure economic stability and social security, raise the productive potential of the economy and improve the quality of life for all. 

We shall introduce amendments to appropriate laws to reform taxation, including the value-added tax, to give income tax concessions to wage earners and to offer fiscal incentives on an equitable basis to all investors.

Your Government will place the important diamond and gold-mining industry on sound and stable bases.  This industry has been the country’s largest foreign currency earner for several years.  There should be no doubt that the national economy could be significantly enhanced and the livelihood of hinterland residents and miners enriched if the industry is placed on a surer economic footing. 

We shall establish a Sovereign Wealth Fund, derived from revenues from our forests, mines, waters, lands and other natural resources, to benefit generations to come.

Your Government will introduce measures which aim at achieving full employment and providing more people with job security.  Steps will be taken to create jobs, increase production and generate wealth.

We shall intensify education in the sciences, technology, engineering, mining, agro-processing and the arts to expand employment and promote economic growth. We shall propose policies that provide opportunities for local entrepreneurs and investors and our huge diaspora to develop our abundant natural resources.  We shall introduce other job-creation measures that include promoting small and medium-sized enterprises.  We will also work towards ensuring greater access to finance and capital to start new businesses.

Your Government will ensure that as a general rule, people who are paid only the national minimum wage will not be required to pay income tax. We shall ensure, also, that there will be no increases in income tax rates, value-added tax or national insurance contributions for this financial year (FY 2015).   There will be moderate increases, however in salaries paid to public servants and pensions paid to seniors.

Your Government will support its economic thrust by implementing reforms in the public education system. We aim at producing citizens of quality who will be happy to remain here at home to build our great country.  We shall expand opportunities to improve communication and human learning and to drive our economy forward at a faster rate.  We shall improve information, communication and education infrastructure in hinterland and coastal areas.  We shall implement measures that will extend access to the information superhighway to support the education of our young people.

We shall introduce measures to curb the rate at which so many primary school children are failing to qualify to enter secondary school or are dropping out of our primary and secondary schools every year.   We aim at ensuring that our young people attain higher educational standards and can look forward to finding satisfactory jobs when they leave school.  We want to ensure that their time and talent are not wasted in the penal system but are spent, instead, in gainful employment.

Your Government aims at providing accessible and affordable housing in sanitary and safe communities, with the necessities for wholesome and dignified living, for citizens in need.  We shall ensure that all state-sponsored housing developments are provided with recreational, educational and sports facilities in addition to basic infrastructure and services such as electricity, telephones, roads, solid waste disposal and pure water supply.

Well-governed Guyana

Your Government is committed to a well-governed Guyana.  We reassert and reaffirm the integrity and autonomy of the National Assembly.  We shall ensure that this Assembly is granted administrative autonomy, institutional autonomy, political autonomy and financial autonomy.  We have seen how a subservient National Assembly could become a bane rather than a boom to democracy. 

Our governance policy reflects the Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles on the Three Branches of Government endorsed by the Commonwealth Heads of Government. Among those principles are that Parliament should be serviced by a professional staff - independent of the regular public service.  We intend to ensure that the 11th Parliament is equipped with its own Budget Office and its own Parliamentary Counsel based right here in the Parliament.  

Your Government will also bring forward legislation to secure strong and lasting constitutional reforms and to guarantee good governance.  We shall introduce:
    
• Constitution (Amendment) Bill, to amend the Constitution of Guyana to add certain entities — such as the Service Commissions and the Guyana Elections Commission, that ought to enjoy financial autonomy as Constitutional Agencies.

• Office of the Clerk of the National Assembly Bill, to establish an independent office of the Clerk of the National Assembly that would allow greater independence in the appointment of all staff of the Parliament Office.

• Fiscal Management and Accountability (Amendment) Bill, to ensure that certain entities enjoy financial independence, to free them from executive interference with their budgetary allocations.

• Former President’s (Benefits and Other Facilities) Bill to cap benefits, including tax-free concessions and to specify some conditions under which the benefits are to be enjoyed.

• Constitutional Offices Commission Bill to periodically review salaries, pensions and other conditions for persons appointed to constitutional offices, including Members of the National Assembly.

• Anti-Money-Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill to curb money-laundering and the contraband trade. 

• Telecommunications Bill, to provide a new regime for a liberalised and competitive telecommunications sector.

• Public Utilities Commission (Amendment) Bill, to allow equal treatment to all investors in this sector and to ensure better service quality to consumers.

• Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill to allow greater independence to the National Broadcasting Authority and to ensure standards of fairness, balance and accuracy on matters of public interest.

• Local Government (Amendment) Bill to allow the setting of the date for local government elections, which were last held in 1994.

Your Government will adhere to an empowerment policy that regularly renews local democracy by ensuring that local government elections are held – as is stipulated in our Constitution.   We shall fortify grassroots democracy by ensuring that local residents are allowed to play a greater role in managing their towns and villages.

We shall, introduce legislation to upgrade the four hinterland regional administrative centres – Bartica, Mahdia, Mabaruma and Lethem – to township status with their own mayors and town councils.  

Green Guyana

Your Government envisages a green Guyana.  We shall exploit Guyana’s favourable geographical location and abundant assets in order to develop a ‘green economy’ - one that generates human happiness in ways that are consistent with economic exploitation of its natural resources.  We see a ‘green economy’ as one that sustains economic prosperity, environmental security and social well-being.  It will allow the current generation to satisfy its needs without jeopardizing the opportunity of future generations to satisfy theirs. 

We shall confront the challenges of solid waste management, coastal zone conservation, flooding, public health and damage to rivers and forests by poorly-regulated mining and logging practices.  We shall introduce a strategy to protect the population from hazards, to preserve the environment from further degradation and to sustain development.

Your Government will introduce an energy policy that utilizes our wind, water and solar power to provide cheap, renewable electricity to more Guyanese in our urban, rural, riverain  and hinterland communities.

We shall support the responsible exploitation of the hinterland’s mineral and other natural resources.   We shall ensure, however, that the livelihood of the residents is sustained and that the environment is protected by the rigorous enforcement of environmental legislation.   

Your Government will introduce a comprehensive plan to invest in, improve or increase public infrastructure assets.   Guyana’s economic development has been impeded and its international competitiveness has been impaired because of the lack of major investment in public infrastructure.  Collapsing stellings; congested city streets; aging ferries; deteriorating hinterland airstrips; broken bridges; impassable roadways and weakened kokers and sea defences, have all become major obstacles to everyday commuting, communication and commerce.

Your Government will introduce a national infrastructure plan for the maintenance and extension of aerodromes, highways, roadways, stellings and bridges.  Frequent, fatal, aviation, riverain and road accidents and delays and damage to vehicles on difficult roadways, all increase the risk and cost of travel.   We can keep Guyana green while giving Guyanese safer, more comfortable lives.

Secure Guyana

Your Government will do everything within its power to secure our borders.  We aim at playing a leading role in regional affairs, using our presence on the South American Continent and our membership of the Caribbean Community, the Organisation of American States, Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) to re-engage our neighbours and resolve the major regional security and economic challenges.

We shall strengthen our friendly relations with our neighbours – the Federative Republic of Brazil; the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of Suriname.  We believe that our four neighbouring Republics together have much to contribute to the security of national borders, to the stability of this continent, to the success of the Union of South American Nations and to the happiness of our peoples.   We will seek effective international collaboration to sustain economic growth and preserve international peace.  

Your Government will continue to work towards adherence to agreements that respect our territorial integrity.  We insist on the full implementation of agreements that guarantee our sovereignty.

We shall also deepen our economic relations with the Caribbean Community.  We shall work tirelessly with every single state of the community to ensure complete compliance with the Treaty of Chaguaramas and the fulfilment of the needs of all the Caribbean peoples. 

Your Government will introduce measures to reform the defence and security sectors to ensure that our defence and police forces protect our citizens and our territory, allowing Guyanese to feel safe as they go about their daily lives.  

Your Government will refashion the Guyana Police Force into a more professional and better equipped law-enforcement agency.  We shall pay policemen and women better so that they are not easily led into temptation. 

We shall suppress serious crimes and stanch the spate of armed robberies.  We shall reduce other everyday crimes – including banditry, murder, piracy, fatalities on the roads and interpersonal violence that are scaring foreign investors, driving away the educated élite, stifling the manufacturing sector, strangling local enterprise, scuttling the economy, undermining economic growth and impeding social development.

Great country, good people

The opening of the 11th Parliament signifies an opportunity for a new start for this great country and its good people.  The state of the nation requires visionary leadership.  We have assembled a Cabinet of men and women who can provide that leadership.  They have the expertise, experience and enthusiasm to repair the damage which has been wrought over the past two decades.  We came together as an executive team committed to working with the legislative branch over the coming quinquennium. 

I pray, therefore, for the unity of the Guyanese people.  I pray that this National Assembly will debate, deliberate and determine the matters that will be brought before you without cowardice or malice.  I pray that your decisions will result in a good life for all Guyanese.

May God bless this 11th Parliament.   May God bless Guyana.