Jordan and Opposition disqualify themselves in any poverty alleviation discourse

Dear Editor,
Winston Jordan tried desperately to sound like an expert as he commented on Budget 2025. Unfortunately, Jordan, who has the reputation among Guyanese as the worst Minister of Finance ever in Guyana and in CARICOM, was clueless in offering any sensible critique for Budget 2025.
Given their history in budget debates, and given that they rely on people like Jordan for their talking points, it is a given that the Opposition MPs will offer clueless, even ludicrous, analyses of Budget 2025.
Generally, the Guyanese public has little to no confidence in the Opposition offering even a modicum of reasonable analysis for Budget 2025.
A previously published commentary responded to, and dismissed, Jordan’s criticism of Minister Ashni Singh’s declaration that Budget 2025 is the “biggest budget ever”.
For his other criticisms of Budget 2025, Jordan assumed the role of an expert on poverty reduction. He slammed Minister Ashni Singh and President Irfaan Ali’s PPP Government for a “disaster” budget, which he claimed did not address poverty alleviation in Guyana.
According to him, cash transfers like the one-off $100,000 cash grant for every adult Guyanese, the $100,000 cash grant for every newborn baby, the $50,000 per child in school Because We Care cash grant, the $10,000 health voucher for every Guyanese citizen, and other safety net programmes do nothing to reduce poverty. In terms of the physical infrastructure, Jordan and the opposition’s dismissal is that people cannot eat roads, bridges, schools and hospitals, etc.
We challenge Jordan and the Opposition to list which of the physical infrastructure or the safety net measures in Budget 2025 must be eliminated.
Winston Jordan presented five national budgets: Budgets 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, yet this poverty reduction expert failed to address poverty alleviation in any of those budgets. Any responsible government, whether in a developed country or developing country, would ensure that poverty reduction is a central focus of the national budget.
Of course, Jordan missed one critical point – poverty alleviation cannot occur in a non-economic growth environment. Guyana has grown significantly since 2020. In 2024, growth was almost 44%, and is expected to be at more than 10% in 2025, with non-oil growth of more than 13%.
Between 2015 and 2020 (Jordan’s tenure), Guyana GDP was almost stagnant, moving from US$4.3B to just US$5.17B. Between 2020 and 2024, GDP catapulted from US$5.17B to about US$23B.
Since 2021, Guyana has maintained the title of the fastest growing economy in the world. This growth has benefitted from local investments which have grown by 60% in that period. Growth in agriculture, mining, service and manufacturing is growth that supports employment. The statistics prove the point: more than 60,000 jobs have been created so far, surpassing the promise of 50,000 new jobs.
On reflection, since he is an expert on poverty reduction, maybe Jordan can explain how the loss of jobs through initiatives in the budgets that he spearheaded was poverty alleviation. Let him explain why closing four sugar estates, with more than 7,000 people out of jobs, with sudden impoverishment of almost 40,000 people, was poverty alleviation.
Let him explain why the workers who lost jobs had to fight in court to get their severance, and how this did not contribute to poverty for more than 40,000 people.
Maybe he could tell us what initiatives were in place in budgets between 2015 and 2020 to support those families.
He must tell us how terminating the contract for more than 2,000 young Amerindians contributed to poverty alleviation between 2015 and 2020. Maybe he can explain how ending bauxite production in Kwakwani by chasing away RUSAL was poverty alleviation. In fact, almost 40,000 people lost jobs between 2015 and 2020, and the poverty reduction expert played a pivotal role in this horrendous record.
He said nothing when his party leader, the then president, was asked about jobs for young people. His president told the young people that they must not only look to Government to create jobs, they can create their own employment, such as selling dog food and plantain chips.
Was it poverty alleviation that motivated him to present Budget 2015, which provided for 5% pay increase for public servants, and zero for sugar workers after promising them 20% pay increase? Was it poverty alleviation giving the president, ministers and MPs 50 to 100% pay increase?
After promising to increase the tax threshold from $50,000/month to $100,000/month within 100 days, they then took 5 budgets and almost 2,000 days to reach just $65,000/month. Was this poverty alleviation?

Jordon read five national budgets with increases in more than 200 taxes; with introduction of VAT for education, water, electricity, data, health products, etc.; with increases in drainage and irrigation and agriculture land lease rates. Were these poverty reduction programmes?
They had promised elimination of UG fees within 100 days of assuming government. After five budgets and almost 2,000 days, UG fees, far from elimination, were increased.
Maybe he can explain to the Guyanese people why taking away $10,000 per school child from families across Guyana was not helping to create more poverty in Guyana.
With his abysmal poverty alleviation track-record, he should be the last person critiquing a budget on the basis of poverty alleviation. Unfortunately, his clueless analysis would echo throughout Budget 2025 debate from the Opposition members, because as clueless as he is, his party MPs will be even more clueless and equally comical.
Every national budget, no matter the country, is an annual work plan that includes measures and strategies targetting poverty reduction. Within the annual national budget, initiatives to create jobs; improve availability and access to education at all levels, including vocational training; improve availability and access to quality healthcare; provision of water, sanitation and housing are critical elements of an antipoverty strategy.
There must be initiatives to empower girls and women, improve childhood nutrition, support environmental protection, sensible salary and wages’ increases and taxation relief measures, and a robust safety net programme. These and other initiatives are imperatives for a serious effort to combat poverty in any country.
Minister Ashni Singh’s Budget 2025 was crafted carefully to empower people and families, addressing all critical elements listed above, demonstrating that the Irfaan Ali-led PPP government has a serious and sensible approach to poverty reduction. The robust safety net programme includes the one-off cash grants of $100,000 per adult over 18 years old, the $100,000 cash grant for every newborn baby, the $50,000 per school child Because We care program, the $10,000 per citizen health voucher, subsidies for water and electricity bills for pensioners.
Initiatives such as elimination of university fees, vocational training fees, the bridge tolls, robust salary and wage increases for public servants and for those in public corporations such as sugar workers, increases in old age pension and public assistance, and the 50% reduction of electricity rates by 4th quarter of 2025, the employment of more than 2,000 Amerindian youths as CSOs, and the part-time employment programme for more than 15,000 persons contribute significantly to improving livelihoods and reducing poverty.
There are other measures besides those itemised above that support livelihood and reduce poverty. These include the maintenance of zero % excise tax on petroleum products, saving the population more than $90B in 2025, the freight cost adjustment at a cost of $6B, and an allocation of $9B for cost-of-living support in 2025.
Investments in small businesses, and support for the private sector, the entitlements of Amerindian Villages to carbon credit funds to use in the development of their communities, including in promotion of small enterprises, are genuine efforts at poverty reduction and empowerment of families and communities. There are thousands of small contractors and small businesses now operating in Guyana which are directly supported by the budget. Dotting every community now are small individual and family businesses such as small-scale packaging, restaurants, salons, barbershops, etc.
The huge, aggressive public sector infrastructure projects are creating jobs in addition to making transportation and services easier. The construction of roads and highways, bridges, streets and canals, hospitals and schools, houses in the multiple housing schemes create jobs, one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty for families.
The clueless Opposition has been in a frenzy, screaming that people cannot eat roads, bridges, pump stations, schools and hospitals, etc. Yet they are the same people who would cry crocodile tears if investments are not made in the upgrade, expansion and maintenance of Guyana’s physical and service infrastructure.
Investments in health ($144B), education ($175B), housing and water ($129B), sanitation and solid waste ($13.2B), human services ($58.5B), etc. are critical elements that support the robust antipoverty drive of the Irfaan Ali government.
Budget 2025 is a carefully crafted budget to ensure Guyana’s incredible growth continues; that we achieve economic diversification; we create jobs and provide a social sector development that empowers all. It is crafted to ensure all people are empowered, that people are able to flourish, and to ensure Guyana rapidly reduce and eliminate poverty.

Sincerely,
Dr Leslie Ramsammy