PNC proud of banning food items – Norton tells National Assembly

Opposition Leader and Leader of the People’s National Congress (PNC) Aubrey Norton on Thursday told the National Assembly that the party is proud of its legacy of banning basic food items in Guyana.
“We restricted items in 1970s and we are proud of it,” Norton declared during his contribution to the 2025 budget debate.
Under the Forbes Burnham regime, basic food items such as flour, split peas, potatoes, sardine, corn mutton, etc, were banned from being imported into the country.
Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for finance and the public service, Dr Ashni Singh has since condemned the Opposition Leader for his comments.

Wrapping up the budget debates on Thursday night, Dr Singh reminded that during that era, “if you consumed sardines in a can, you couldn’t dispose the cans in your garbage bin, you went to your backyard and buried those sardines’ cans.”
“Wheat and flour were as illegal as cocaine and if you were caught with it, you were thrown into jail,” he added.
“And Mr Norton comes today to say they are proud of doing that, without a modicum or morsel of regret for the people, without a modicum or morsel of regret for the thousands of people who were criminalised because they ate potatoes or they ate split peas or dhal or because they had a roti made of flour…And Mr Norton comes to tell this House…that they are proud of the fact that they criminalised thousands of people,” Dr Singh expressed.
The Finance Minister pointed out, “and these people want to present themselves as electable.”