The coalition opposition is accusing the government of stealing its strategies while at the same time, criticizing the administration’s governance approach and branding it “visionless”.
During a press conference this morning, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) said that the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has now taken to using ideas from the coalition’s “People-centered Development Strategy”.
The party also labelled the government as nothing more than “mere copycats”, who are “incompetent and have no vision, no plan, and no interest in the poor and vulnerable in Guyana”.
The APNU+AFC is adamant that more can be done to deliver Guyanese from poverty, noting that the administration is hellbent on creating a narrative that all is well in the South American nation.
However, it noted that if the government cares, it should calculate the minimum amount of money the average man needs to live and pay them a livable wage which will have to be no less than $150,000 per month.
Even with the oil “bonanza”, the party said that poverty is on the rise. To prove its case, it said World Bank statistics show that despite growing oil revenues, Guyana’s national poverty headcount, the share of the population living below US$5.5 a day, is among the highest in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region at around 48 percent.
The financial institution said too that poverty rates are highest in the sparsely populated interior or hinterland, where communities have limited access to economic opportunities, healthcare, and public services.
In light of this and other factors, the opposition said the government is failing to act in the best interest of the nation.
