AFC leader Raphael Trotman in his criticisms of what he terms "the cost/benefit ratio for the Head of State’s numerous trips overseas" based his pronouncements on information received which purportedly suggests that the cost of Jagdeo’s overseas trips in the two and half years is nearing $1B. The AFC leader stressed that if one does a cost/benefit analysis of the visits, one would quickly realize that Guyana’s economy is not recording any net gains as according to him the costs of these trips far outweigh the benefits.
Apart from the fact that the $1B figure seems exaggerated by Trotman if we are to examine the benefits derived from just a few of these said trips we could easily deduce that it is another falsity being perpetuated by the seemingly dishonest AFC:
-During early 2009 Guyana secured a US$41M (GY$8.2B) write off from Libya as a result of successful lobbying by Jagdeo
-Iran committed to assisting Guyana in mapping its mineral resources along with the US$1.5M (GY$300M) grant it has allocated towards boosting the local health sector.
-Guyana will benefit from Kuwait's US$10M(GY$2B) grant aimed at enhancing the GOG's housing programme
So far using 3 instances in totality i have listed GY$10.5B in financial aid to Guyana.
Added to that is the fact that the President is invited to many of these trips abroad and in such instances incur no expenses to the state since these are covered by the host country.
In the same instance the AFC leader also chastised Jagdeo for seeking to forge new alliances with some middle eastern countries, specifically Iran and Kuwait. However Trotman seems unaware that since 2003, oil producing states have reaped a revenue windfall. As oil increased from $27.69 per barrel on average in 2003 to as much as $79 per barrel in 2006, Saudi Arabia, for example, saw its gross domestic product (GDP) increase by well over $130 billion over that time period, and the United Arab Emirates took home more than an additional $80 billion. Such revenues have generated enormous liquidity among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—and created unprecedented opportunities for large-scale overseas investments.
Apart from the fact that the $1B figure seems exaggerated by Trotman if we are to examine the benefits derived from just a few of these said trips we could easily deduce that it is another falsity being perpetuated by the seemingly dishonest AFC:
-During early 2009 Guyana secured a US$41M (GY$8.2B) write off from Libya as a result of successful lobbying by Jagdeo
-Iran committed to assisting Guyana in mapping its mineral resources along with the US$1.5M (GY$300M) grant it has allocated towards boosting the local health sector.
-Guyana will benefit from Kuwait's US$10M(GY$2B) grant aimed at enhancing the GOG's housing programme
So far using 3 instances in totality i have listed GY$10.5B in financial aid to Guyana.
Added to that is the fact that the President is invited to many of these trips abroad and in such instances incur no expenses to the state since these are covered by the host country.
In the same instance the AFC leader also chastised Jagdeo for seeking to forge new alliances with some middle eastern countries, specifically Iran and Kuwait. However Trotman seems unaware that since 2003, oil producing states have reaped a revenue windfall. As oil increased from $27.69 per barrel on average in 2003 to as much as $79 per barrel in 2006, Saudi Arabia, for example, saw its gross domestic product (GDP) increase by well over $130 billion over that time period, and the United Arab Emirates took home more than an additional $80 billion. Such revenues have generated enormous liquidity among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—and created unprecedented opportunities for large-scale overseas investments.
Indeed the AFC are exaggerating, they should even make accusation of the government using $1 billion to travel over the year, and they have never done anything for the people or for the country. They are opposition for a purpose and they should work towards it and reap the benefit that they wish to claim, on the contrary they are not like that, they are actually opportunists, when there is problem they find means of scoring points...little do they know it not of this instance. Jadgeo trips has shown successes and these are facts stated in this article, what other proof does the AFC needs...there just too damn impossible
ReplyDeleteAll of this must be analyzed within the context that Guyana inherited a dilapidated infrastructure from the PNC. Ina addition the debt write off by the Lybian Government was in fact a PNC debt which this government inherited and it was due to skillful negotiation that Jagdeo was able to secure the debt write off, so this bugaloo that Trotman is singing would only fall on deaf ears.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time when the president travels, he has been given invitations which are usually funded by these various countries, universities and other funding agencies...and the AFC knows that but the usual routine on the political agenda, they would find any little thing to cause controversy because that is all they can do. If it wasn’t for Jadgeo Guyana would not have been where it is today internationally, as a matter of fact it is one the finest leading country in the Caribbean. These countries saw the potential in Guyana that is why they are willing to assist and have Guyana to acknowledge at various events around the world due to its achievements but AFC can’t visualize it that way because they are jut a bunch of pessimist...
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