“We’re not taking people’s votes for granted” – Jagdeo

…highlights PPP/C achievements, including cost-of-living relief

General Secretary (GS) of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has assured citizens that the governing party is not complacent heading into the upcoming elections. Speaking during an interview on “The Afternoon Lockdown” on 94.1FM, Dr Jagdeo emphasised that the PPP/C is actively engaging voters and delivering on its promises. “In 2015, the difference between us and APNU (A Partnership for National Unity) was 4600 votes, and we walked away from executive power without violence. We rebuilt our party and came back victorious in 2020. Now, anyone following this campaign knows the PPP will win these elections hands down. This is not arrogance – we have kept faith with the people,” Jagdeo declared. He stressed that the PPP/C has not taken its supporters for granted, emphasising that the administration has paid keen attention to the requests and recommendations from its supporters.
“We’ve been going into communities, making calls to homes and sharing flyers that show what we’ve accomplished over the last five years. We are working fiercely to secure people’s confidence,” he added.

Tackling cost of living
Turning to the issue of the rising cost of living, Jagdeo pointed to a combination of global shocks – including the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions and the Russia-Ukraine war – that have driven up prices. To cushion citizens, he explained that the Government targeted six critical cost areas, including electricity and water, fuel, internet and mortgages. “So, we looked at six areas that affect people’s costs and we said, what are the ones under the control of the Government? Electricity prices. So, we are subsidising your electricity bill now, to the tune of $80 million per year. So that from 2020 to 2025, there’s been no increase in electricity prices. And so, nobody can claim there’s a cost-of-living increase because they had to pay higher electricity rates. Secondly, water rates came down by 5 per cent. We cut the rates by 5 per cent. But we’re subsidising water rates across billions of dollars of subsidy. So, there’s been no increase in water rates. We have the cheapest diesel and gasoline in the Caribbean now,” the GS said. Further, Jagdeo highlighted massive increases in food production, but despite higher local food production, he admitted that prices of staples like cassava, chicken and plantains remain inflated because of middlemen and rising demand.
“So, the normal rule is that when you increase production, then you get, you know, you supply the market more, prices should come down. That’s economics for you. So even when we increase production here, we’ve seen an escalation in price because of the middlemen in the market… but any politician who tells you they can control the market price of squash or plantain is lying. What we can do is strengthen people’s ability to afford food – through higher wages, pensions and public assistance,” he pointed out.

Housing
Since assuming office in August 2020, Government has surpassed its 2025 manifesto promise of distributing 50,000 house lots. Looking ahead, Jagdeo pledged that all outstanding house lot applicants will be accommodated, while 40,000 new homes will be built over the next five years.
He explained that this move aligns with the PPP/C’s strategy to prevent “Dutch disease” – a common pitfall in oil-rich economies.
“We will assist people to get a house lot in the next term, all of those people who are waiting for their house lots will get their house lots. They will complete the infrastructure for the ones that we’re doing now. A lot of people are waiting; they have the letter of allocation. And we’ll build 40,000 homes in the next term, 8,000 per year. We have been unable to build a lot of homes now because we promised house lots. But we also give people a grant to build and a grant poor people to improve their homes”.
“Our greatest challenge will not be depreciation of the Guyana dollar but its appreciation. We must prevent the exchange rate from rising too much, which could cripple manufacturing and agriculture. Only the PPP has a plan rooted in a strong macroeconomic framework to balance oil revenues with sustainable growth,” he asserted.