Some wise person once said for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The mismanagement of the energy sector since independence has been responsible in the main for the economic erosion within our manufacturing sector. In 1973, Guyana was spending about US$500 million on fuel imports during the energy crisis and to his credit, Mr Burnham at that time did promise the people that he will build a large hydropower plant in the Upper Mazaruni. The rest is history! That promise moved from a Guyanese hydropower plant to a Guyanese giant hydrocele with a huge amount of debt and nothing to show for it. By 1984 when Burnham finally surrendered to the reality, over G$1 billion was squandered and any plan for an aluminium smelter was shelved, burying Linden’s economic fortunes in the process.
UNDP did an extensive study on the hydropower potential in Guyana, but the closest Guyana ever got to unleashing that potential was the Amaila Falls Hydro Project under Mr Jagdeo, which has now been thoughtlessly abandoned by this Granger regime in exchange for a half-baked energy strategy that continues to hinder human development.
In addition to the underperformance in the energy sector, the prevalence of low-cost Chinese made goods, most of which can be made in Guyana, is a major inhibitor to the growth in the manufacturing sector. China has been able to manipulate its currency; employ children on the cheap (not follow standard labour practices); destroy the environment and cut corners on quality to get ahead to the disadvantage of Guyana, who cannot do the same because of the international rules. Collectively, these two reasons are stagnating the manufacturing sector.
Whenever a manufacturing facility closes its door, it leaves a black hole. Everything that supports that factory goes down with it. Guyanese jobs disappear, local people who supply that factory with materials, equipment, maintenance services and then all the other services around it like the markets, they all go down with that factory.
This is exactly what has happened to the Mon Repos Market based on a video I saw from CN Sharma on his “Voice of the People” programme in January 2018. The overwhelming consensus of the vendors was that “money nah circulating”. With the Enmore Factory mothballed by this Granger regime at the end of 2017, some 40,000 people along the East Coast of Demerara were directly and indirectly affected in their pockets. The same experiences have been experienced on the West Demerara and in the Corentyne. People have mortgages/rent to pay and they have to put food on the table. Just meeting these two basic needs will become impossible for thousands of families if some of these sugar factories are not re-opened in private hands within the next six months. As the experience from the bauxite industry revealed, severance money can only last so long especially when they are getting less than G$500,000.
In any country, the bricks and mortar associated with success are the agriculture, mining, housing, and manufacturing sectors. On all four fronts, the policies of this Granger regime have directly contributed to the active destruction of these sectors with some respite in the mining sector. It is these sectors that make Guyana tick, and it is unfortunate that the members of Team Granger are not empathetic to this fact.
So coming back to the ordinary market vendors in the Mon Repos Market, no policymakers should take their comments lightly. It is a sure way of testing the pulse of the economy and progressive public policies must be crafted urgently to recalibrate the economy.
This brings me to a pertinent point – imports. Pigeon peas in a tin? Give me a break! Now can you understand why the economy is stifling? The world has unrestricted access to the Guyanese market and continues to flood it with their products. Unfortunately, because of our high cost and unreliable electricity and an unresponsive government investment policy, Guyana has restricted access to the world market. This is an uneven relationship and must be addressed. All the signs are pointing to the fact that more factory closures in the manufacturing sector are set to happen unless President Granger and his team act now and fast!
