Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, has accused the APNU+AFC Government of playing “musical chairs” with the shifting of its ministers from one post to the next, all while Guyanese continue to suffer.
Speaking to members of the media today at his Church Street office, Jagdeo said, “The government is busy playing musical chairs. Never mind we lost 30,000 jobs, never mind the cost of living is skyrocketing, and there is increasing taxes…Never mind the fact that workers are struggling every day to make ends meet…They are playing musical chairs and we are drifting.”
The economist also cautioned that one should not be fooled by the increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Finance Ministry recently noted that Guyana’s GDP grew to 4.1 percent, a significant improvement over the 3.4 percent that was projected.
He said, “I am not a cut and paste economist…I don’t manage for ratios because behind the numbers are people. This government looks at the 4.1 percent growth and the fact that they collected $88B more as indicators of success. But where is the growth coming from? The growth in Guyana is not recent; it is from old investments.”
Jagdeo stressed that the true test of the well-being of a nation is in the ability of the citizens to better provide for themselves and their families.
He said that Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, never addresses issues about the number of people who are losing jobs.
Jagdeo said, “Almost every sector is down…Some services and construction have increased but look beyond the 4.1 percent and you will see massive job losses. And the $88B is mostly cushioned by taxes…Jordan thinks this is a success for the government but that $88B represents less money for people to address the skyrocketing cost of living.”
