Dear Editor,
The Alliance for Change (AFC) has again renewed its call to all political parties to craft a “joint 15-year development plan” for Guyana.
Editor, it is worthwhile to note that the AFC is not a new political party. The AFC was established in 2005, which means that this party has been around for nearly two decades. Before the 2015 elections, which they won after forming a coalition Government with the APNU, the AFC contested two elections: in 2006 and in 2011. Yet, after nearly two decades in existence, and with the current leader having served in that capacity several times before, the party still does not have even a blue-print of a developmental plan for this country.
In contrast, the PPP/C took no more than two (2) years to develop and finalise the country’s first national development plan in 1996. Work had commenced on that plan in 1994, was finalized in 1996, and its incremental implementation began immediately thereafter, through the national budgets of 1997-2014 and 2020 to present.
Notably, the 1996 National Development Strategy (NDS, 1996) was followed by the Poverty Reduction Strategy (with support from the World Bank), the National Competitiveness Strategy (with support from the Inter-American Development Bank), the Low Carbon Development Strategy (2009), and now the expanded version of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (2030).
In summary, within the space of thirty-two (32) years, 27 of which they were in Government (1992-2014; 2020-2024), and five years in Opposition, the PPP/C delivered a total of five (5) national development strategies and plans for the country.
Together with those plans, all sectors of the economy have their own sectorial policy and strategy documents and regional development plans.
These achievements by the PPP/C alone speak for themselves, which is in stark contrast with the AFC, which has been around for nearly two decades and has not even crafted a blue-print of a development plan, or an outline, leaving much to be desired.
Sincerely,
Joel Bhagwandin
