Dear Editor,
I recalled a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, which stated that ‘An error does not become truth by multiplied propagation, nor does Truth become error because nobody sees it. Truth stands even if there is no public support. It is self-sustained’.
The Guyanese people are witnessing the lies and the truth as the Budget Debate 2023 progresses, and it is easy for the public to discern who are peddling the lies and who are presenting the facts.
I will just give two examples on Day 3 of the Budget Debate, analysing the presentation by Mr. Roysdale Forde, SC, and the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Zulfikar Mustapha. These two presentations will provide evidence that whilst Mr. Forde was spewing untruths and misinformation about the socio-economic conditions which currently exist in Guyana; even as he did his mischief, he was respectfully allowed to make his presentation by those on the Government side, notwithstanding the fact that they knew that his presentation was riddled with errors and inaccuracies meant to misinform.
But not so Minister Mustapha’s presentation. The Opposition side of the House had to be rebuked by the Speaker, since they behaved in the most despicable manner, more suited for the gutters than for the sanctity of Parliament. I shudder to think that maybe there is an affinity of sorts between the gutter and the Opposition members of the House.
Listening to Mr. Forde’s presentation, one would have thought that he was describing what took place in Guyana during the years of hardships and deprivations that Guyanese had to endure under the late LFS Burnham, and then his successor, the late Desmond Hoyte; and which Guyanese narrowly missed from 2015 to 2020 under Burnham’s acolyte, Mr David Granger. Those were the times when putting food on the table was a criminal activity.
As a senior legal luminary, Mr. Forde ought to know that the harrowing conditions which he depicted in his presentation are falsehoods meant to ‘win’ his case; they do not depict the current reality. His quoted statistics are related to the Coalition’s tenure in Government. The 26 (including the current term) years of the PPP/C Government, which he decried as being the cause of the dire conditions which he falsely attributed, were the years that brought Guyana from being a highly indebted poor country (poorer than Haiti) to a progressive upper-middle income country in which Guyanese can own their own homes and cars, and go on vacation to North American countries.
Mr. Forde should understand that even though his mentor Burnham spoke about the equality of all races and that all races are important, in reality, he never practised that. He hated all those who opposed him, and many persons were severely persecuted in many different ways; they endured all sorts of persecution. The late Dr. Walter Rodney immediately comes to mind.
Burnham was a dictator in all negative forms and connotations of the term. His rigging, corruption and squandermania, combined with his Machiavellian strategies, are indelibly etched in the annals of our country. The name Burnham will always be synonymous with dictatorship.
Please do not rewrite our history, Mr Forde.
On the other hand, Minister Zulfikar’s presentation was truthful and accurate, with no intent to deceive the Guyanese public. The facts can be verified. His well-constructed speech clearly recalled the horrors and rapid decline that the Agriculture Sector had to endure under the Coalition, especially sugar and rice. It was the Coalition’s Budgets from 2015 to 2019 which were the recipe for the Dutch Curse that Mr. Forde went at pains to attribute to the PPP/C Government’s Budget. The Coalition severely cut the agriculture budget year after year, and saw the rice industry as a private business, as outlined by Minister Mustapha. Minister Mustapha pointed out the massive taxation and other debilitating measures which crippled the rice industry as well. Both rice and sugar were seen as populated by PPP/C supporters, hence the vindictiveness.
The comprehensive and excellently crafted plan for Agriculture will definitely not only realise 100% self-sufficiency by 2025, but will boost the export earnings of both traditional and non-traditional high-value crops.
I exhort those who have missed the Minister’s 2023 Budget presentation to view it on Youtube. There has never been such a solution-oriented plan ever for the Sector, and it definitely will make massive progressive strides from what was already achieved since 2020. The Opposition cannot dispute these hard facts, and as the Minister said in his conclusion, it is worrying when elected officials ignore the facts and go to lengths to distort and present their lies as facts in the Honourable House.
Undoubtedly, the 2023 Budget was well-planned and crafted; was flexible, realistic, and clearly communicated. One can easily discern the connections of the many facets which will promote the economic and social well-being of every Guyanese as the year progresses.
The Coalition must understand that Joseph Goebbels’s Nazi propaganda strategy of repeating a lie often enough and it becomes the truth will not work in this day of easy access to credible information. ‘Truth alone will endure, all the rest will be swept away before the tide of time’-Mahatma Gandhi.
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
