Dear Editor,
Allow me a space in your column to express my opinion, or should i say, exasperation on the various lack of common sense by Guyana’s opposition.
Firstly, I must commend the PPPC Government for presenting a well-structured budget that reflects and promotes economic growth, social welfare, and sustainability. The budget clearly exhibits a balance of expenditures while ensuring sustainable development that will benefit all Guyanese.
I closely watched the budget debates in Parliament, and to be honest, I didn’t hear the opposition make a single objection that the Guyanese people could take seriously. Just to name a few, the Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton was busy bragging about how he is proud and unapologetic about the period when his party was in power and had banned essential food items.
Another laughable moment was when Member of Parliament Richard Sinclair said he cannot support the budget because he has not received his 100k cash grant yet.
Inexplicably, the opposition is calling for biometrics to be used for elections in Guyana by making a number of ridiculous and misleading claims. This same opposition was in power from 2015 to 2020. If biometrics technology is so great, transparent and efficient, as they are now claiming, why didn’t they implement the system since then? Why all of a sudden is the opposition throwing a tantrum and trying to mislead the guyanese people that biometrics is the best method for elections?
I’m not a specialist in biometrics technology. However, I’ve done some research on biometrics voting and manual voting, and here is my understanding of both methods. Biometrics requires advanced technology and infrastructure. It is also costly to maintain, and it has a very high risk of system failure and cyber attack.
As for manual voting, it does not require expense technology, it has less risk of system failure or cyber attack. An equally important point is that the manual system is easily understood by all voters, including voters in rural areas. Honestly, I don’t see the need for biometrics voting in Guyana at this point in time, and the opposition should stop throwing tantrums over it.
Yours truly,
Quincy Anderson
Political Activist
