Jagdeo to Govt: Don’t take credit for everything

Now that the coalition Government is in its third year in office, much has been said about its performance which many consider weak or poor, but it has maintained a strong opinion that it has done well to improve certain sectors of the economy.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo does not agree with that position and said the current Government is taking too much credit for things that it does not necessarily deserve it for. In fact, Jagdeo accused the Government of making several major blunders as opposed to achieving great success.
During a recent press conference, the former Head of State cited the absurdity of a statement that was produced after the Government’s first year in office. He recalled that it boasted about ending flooding in Guyana when today that statement remains far from reality.
“But we have seen the flood situation. But somehow the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has caused this recent one. They said they ended blackouts and now we are witnessing a spate of blackouts,” he said.
According to Jagdeo, the coalition Government has even accused the PPP/Civic of being incompetent, while making repeated references to the Skeldon Factory as a prime example of one such failure. However, one year later, the factory has become a white elephant under its leadership.
Jagdeo also drew reference to a recent news article, which in his view sought to endorse the coalition’s work and which he described as “pure propaganda”. The Opposition Leader said he could not pass up the opportunity to highlight the inaccuracies of that published statement.
During a previous press conference, Jagdeo had sought to highlight that the Government has already spent millions on several Commissions of Inquiry (CoIs) and in most cases, none of the recommendations from these CoIs have been properly or fully implemented.
Jagdeo has maintained that the Government’s dismal performance is creating a new Guyana, one where there is no hope for future prosperity and development. He has recurrently chastised Government for its handling of the local economy and has given strict warning that the situation could become chaotic.
He outlined several sectors in which the Government has underperformed, including business, security, and finance. The Opposition Leader outlined that the Government failed to deliver on its promises of providing jobs, garnering foreign investment and bringing down the crime rate while it continues to increase the tax burden on citizens.
While the Government has claimed that it had inherited considerable debt from the previous PPP/C Government, the Opposition Leader has insisted that the Government inherited Guyana from the PPP/C in good standing, with public debt at its lowest level since the 1990s and a path for continued growth.
At the completion of the coalition’s two years in office this year, Jagdeo called on the Government to step out of its fantasy world and address the problems affecting citizens.