APNU/AFC spent billions of dollars wastefully

Dear Editor,
Mr David Granger on Thursday made a startling appeal to the United Nations for some money to be thrown our way, so his Government can “fight COVID-19”. Finishing Ocean View Hotel? But what about this “Last month Guyana received $100 million from the US Government to support its fight against COVID-19, and on Thursday the City Council of the capital Georgetown received an additional $8 million from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) to aid its efforts in stopping the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, just a month ago the David Granger shenanigans said this country is a sovereign country and the ABC countries should stay out Guyana’s politics, the question I keep asking myself is, why is Guyana in this situation, not prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic? However, Mr David Granger conveniently forgot to inform the United Nations that Guyana has its oil money sitting in a USA account, which they have no access to due to the crisis that is imposed on Guyana and the Guyanese citizens, resulting from the fraudulent declaration made by District Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo in an attempt to rig the March 2020 General And Regional Elections.
Post-March 2020 General and Regional Elections, the Granger caretaker Government kept spending billions of Guyanese taxpayers’ dollars on many projects which never brought any returns to our nation. We will all remember the rumbustious scandals involving millions of dollars that members of the David Granger caretaker Government and cabal were allegedly involved in. I can clearly remember under the previous Administration, the PPP/C had reduced the debt stock to 44 per cent of the GDP which represented a debt stock of US$1.1 billion by the end of 2014. Here we are five years later, the Granger-led APNU/AFC has expanded this debt by more than 50 per cent compared with the debt that existed at the end of 2014. At the end of 2014, there was almost $25 billion worth of gold in the Bank of Guyana. It is now almost zero. What has the David Granger Caretaker Government done with the money? At the end of 2014, the total international reserve at the Bank of Guyana was more than US$700 million. It is now less than US$200 million. At the end of 2014, the Government’s local currency account at the Bank of Guyana was $21 billion; today it is in the negative, this simply means that APNU/AFC used up the $21 billion and has borrowed billions more. Are we sure that was really a loan from the Bank of Guyana? When I think about this Granger Administration, I am mesmerized by their deception This was a Government that promised the people of Guyana lower taxes in their manifesto, but immediately betrayed people by increasing more than 200 different taxes. They promised to lower the 16 per cent VAT, and although VAT was lowered to 14 per cent, they broadened the items that became VAT-able, including VAT on water and electricity, VAT on internet and computers, etc. All license fees increased and agriculture land rental and leases have been increased by several hundred per cent. In fact, they now collect more than $100 billion annually than the previous Administration collected at the end of 2014. My next question is, where is the US$18 million Exxon bonus; the same bonus the APNU/AFC Ministers tried to hide in 2016 until they were caught, the many shifts we heard about this money, finally, it was said to pay lawyers representing Guyana against Venezuela, while another said it was invested, making money for Guyana. The APNU/AFC Administration has raised and spent billions of dollars wastefully Guyana and should have never been in this position. Granger’s five years in power has revealed a man of poor judgment, weak leadership and low achievement. From the inception, Guyana was not prepared for the ratification of the COVID-19 pandemic. it is obvious that Guyanese will continue to experience even more hardship, since they are still at the mercy of the APNU/AFC caretaker Government that has put little measures in place to assist and help the Guyanese people. Thank God for the Private Sector and the opposition parties who have stepped up to the plate. Once this National Recount is completed and the true declaration is made by the Guyana Elections Commission, Guyanese will see an immediate response from the newly elected People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government with smart investments and actions taken that will help our country not only recover quicker but also boost longer-term development prospects.

Sincerely,
David Adams