By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Presidential Candidate of the Opposition Coalition, David Granger today sternly expressed his disgust with the state of affairs of Guyana’s economy contending that the country is being led by “jackasses.”
Granger was at the time delivering the feature address at the Guyana Manufacturing Services Association (GMSA) luncheon at the Pegasus International Hotel.
According to Granger, Guyana has a tremendous amount of resources, but these resources are being mismanaged.
He said while the Guyanese people would like to see the country develop to its full potential, it is the mismanagement of the resources that is stymieing that growth.
“Guyana is nation of Jaguars – the people want development; they want to break out; they want to get rich; they want to be like other nations but they are led by jackasses,” said Granger.
In a subsequent statement, he made it clear that he does not mean to disrespect any individual but rather was pointing out that “our policies are not intelligent.”
He pointed to “stunted growth, stranded aspirations stifled initiatives and stolen revenues” as the bedrock of Guyana’s current society noting that an APNU/AFC government will seek to address these issues.
“We would in Guyana create a world class environment for business. We want to make Guyana the gateway to the Caribbean and South America…we want to provide every Guyanese with a good life,” he remarked.
Granger pointed out that Guyana as a member of the CARICOM should be “flourishing and thriving but instead our people are suffering.”
The Presidential candidate pointed out that there is need for a more enhanced education sector since that is one of the major pillars of development. He said what Guyana needs is a five star university to produce world class graduates and not a five star hotel.
“We cannot run a world class economy on the rubble of a broken education system,” he said adding “many young people start off at Onderneeming Primary, head to Camp Street Secondary and then to the Mazaruni University.”
With respect to tax administration, Granger pointed out that taxes are too high and the current tax system has a lot of gaps that would encourage wrong doings.
“Taxes are too high invariably, high too difficult, too cumbersome to administer – too many waivers, too many loopholes. Taxation is too burdensome on the business too burdensome on the poor.”
Granger also said that there was need to refocus on economic diplomacy by seeking to attract foreign investment in Guyana’s economy and pointed to the need to support cottage industries that operate at grassroots level.
In addition, he said that there should be widespread discouragement of the export of Guyana’s raw materials and encouragement should be placed on the enhancement of the manufacturing sector.
In this regard, he pointed out that efforts will be made to reduce energy costs by way of alternative sources, such as Hydro power, wind power and solar energy.
