General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has rapped the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) over its recent position that the private sector withheld support from the former APNU+AFC government during the period 2015-2020.
The remark was first expressed by APNU candidate attorney Dexter Todd and then supported by the party’s leader rand presidential candidate Aubrey Norton.
But Jagdeo contended that the private sector, in that period, merely responded to the policy environment that the APNU+AFC government created.
He reminded that the APNU+AFC administration had introduced some 200 burdensome taxes that would have inevitably impacted business operations.
Zoning in on the mining sector, Jagdeo contended that “don’t you think that people are going to stop producing?” when the government of the day introduced a slew of taxes on mining machinery and equipment as well as increased fees and taxes in the sector.
The same applies to other sectors of the economy at the time, including agriculture, Jagdeo highlighted. He reminded that many farmers suffered during that 2015-2020 period.
“It’s not withholding support, its responding to the policy environment,” the PPP GS expressed.
Jagdeo, who is currently the country’s Vice President, contrasted that environment with the current investment climate created by the PPP/C administration.
Focusing on the tourism sector, Jagdeo highlighted that when the PPP/C took office in August 2020 – in spite of having to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic – the government promptly put out an Expression of Interest (EOI) for hotels, recognising that there is a great need for more rooms in the country.
Jagdeo also pointed out that the PPP/C government changed the incentive regime to include elements such as a 10-year tax holiday and the sale of land at preferential rates.
As a result of that, some eleven new internationally-branded hotels are currently being constructed in the country, some of which will be opened next year.
“They didn’t suddenly do that,” the Vice President contended.
He further explained that as a result of these decisions, when the hotels come into operation, it is the citizens of the country who will benefit.
Jagdeo noted that Guyanese will benefit not just in the hundreds of job opportunities but in opportunities to provide services to the hotels in areas such as food supply.
Against this backdrop, Jagdeo posited that Norton and his cohorts ‘like to play victim’.
He further contended that the ministers under the APNU+AFC administration “were incompetent”.
“The government had no vision…they were arrogant, they were not there to work for the people of Guyana,” he said.
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