Ending…the cacophony

Well, there you have it – the end of the most highly anticipated budget debate since the PNC days – when bruised and battered citizens would anxiously await finding out what else was banned or prices doubled!! Remember those were the days of price control, eh?? But frankly, this budget anticipation had nothing to do with the budget per se – and everything to do with how the new LOO – Sanction Man – would perform!! And let’s face it – being in the National Assembly’s ALWAYS about performances, innit??
So how did Sanction Man perform?? Based on his appearances during his three-month election campaign, whenever asked a question, his standard response was to furrow his brow – as if he were thinking!! – behind his dark shades but then say, “I gonna get back to you”!! It was as if he was the Guyanese equivalent of Gary Cooper – that old-time American “star boy” whose taciturn replies were confined to “Yup!!” and “Nope”!! Not surprisingly – even though his also-US-sanctioned Daady insisted he was “intelligent” because he could remember “car numbers” since he was a boy!! – Most concluded he was also the Guyanese answer to the US’ “dumb blonde” caricature!!
Your Eyewitness had already announced that he was looking forward to listening to Sanction Man giving his hour-long LOO response to the Finance Minister’s Budget Speech – without reading from a script!! After all, while he’d occasionally appear on social media speaking for a while, it was clear from his fixed gaze he was reading from a teleprompter – or a cardboard held over the camera!! In the National Assembly, however, the rule was you gotta speak extemporaneously – with at best (or worst!) being allowed to occasionally glance at your notes!!
So what did Sanction Man do?? Well… READ, of course!! The man who’s barefaced enough to pronounce on how OUR tax dollars oughta be spent – when he didn’t pay HIS share after smuggling tonnes of gold and evaded BILLIONS AND BILLIONS in taxes – was barefaced enough to flout the time-honoured rule!! Over from the other side of the aisle, Government Whip Gail Teixeira jumped up and down like a cuckoo on steroids to protest to the Speaker about the clear breach of the rules. To no avail!!
Even though Sanction Man had announced that the Speaker was “biased” against him – for calling him an “international fugitive”, which earned Sanction Man’s Daady claim the fella was “ungrateful”!! – the latter perfunctorily acknowledged Teixeira’s protest but allowed Sanction Man to blithely continue reading! Sanction Man’s stumbles clearly showed he’d been handed the script – of which fact he was frequently reminded by PPP/C MPs!!
So what did Sanction Man actually read?? Sadly, there was no creativity or punch. Just the usual platitudes consultants come up with!!

…poverty
Much of the cacophony in the House during the budget debate was about “poverty in Guyana”. The Opposition insists there’s 58 per cent poverty in the country – and 32 per cent abject poverty – while asking plaintively how this could be allowed in “the fastest growing economy in the world” – as the Government boasts!! These are quoted from IADB – while some quote from the World Bank – which had 48 per cent poverty on its website!!
And this highlights the problem with statistics – the sources. The Government point out that those stats are dated – going back to the end of the PNC’s 2020-2025 Government!! Since then, while poverty couldn’t be ELIMINATED in five years – it’s certainly been REDUCED!! And will continue to be reduced, the Government promises!!
One problem is that poverty’s a relative concept – in the richest countries, what would be considered “poor” might be “middle class” in a poor one!! As such, your Eyewitness has already discussed a satisfaction of “Basic Needs”.
And who can say this hasn’t improved in Guyana? Honestly now!!

…inequality
The Opposition seems to be demanding an end to inequality when speaking about poverty. But is this possible?? One proposal is that if unequal benefits result in creating greater benefits for all – then it’s justified!! Or else we can all remain equally poor!!