Basdeo Panday

Obvious conclusion
MEMBERS of the PNC/R are continuing their modus operandi of trying to make the country ungovernable with sustained political actions.

The recent bombing of the Home Affairs Ministry building is proof of this since the unsubstantiated allegations made against the Minister of Home Affairs.

The bombing of the building came after another PNC/R phantom group, the Peoples Movement for Justice [PMJ] organised a so-called Rule of Law march in Georgetown.

The PNC/R was anticipating a huge crowd since many of the leaders were seen on television urging people to turn up for the march but, what is interesting to note is that no members or leaders of the Peoples Movement for Justice were introduced on the television programmes - so the conclusion is obvious.

The PNC/R did not see it fit to give the police the information or evidence which they claim that they have in their possession, so that the police could carry out an investigation, as they prefer to march the streets, to stay mobilised and focused.

The main objective of not giving the evidence to the police is simply because if the police are going to carry out an investigation, then the whole issue of an alleged phantom gang existence would have been out of the PNC/R hands and they would have nothing to protest about.

The formation of another phantom group by the PNC/R, is to provide cover for themselves in the event that if people are being beaten, robbed and buildings are set on fire, then they would claim again that it wasn't them, as when the Office of the President was stormed.

But their antics are too well known for their ploys to work.
JAMAL FRASER

Not their style
THE PNC/R are now complaining, from outside, about what Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj said in Parliament in his presentation on the 2004 Budget.

This is their misfortune, as they stayed out on their own accord instead of being present to contribute to the debate on the budget.

They continue to assail the minister, indulging in personal abuse and invective, knowing that they are safely out of the House, and he would not have been able to make an appropriate response.

They should have had the guts to go into Parliament and engage in the debate and make their allegations, but of course, this is not their style, and they may not have liked the responses.
WALTER MARSHALL

Stand not clear
MOST Guyanese will be glad if a holiday is granted in recognition of the arrival of Indians in the country.

It is decades now that Indian cultural, religious and other organisations have been making recommendations for such a holiday to be granted but without success so far.

They form a very large part of the population and their contributions to the development of the country - socially, politically and economically are major.

Regrettably, the PNC/R did not participate in the Committee to decide on holidays and discuss this, among other matters, so it is not really known where it officially stands.

In Trinidad and Tobago, the PNM party had fully supported an Indian Arrival Day for that country so one wonders why the PNC/R is not doing so in Guyana.
LILAWATTIE SINGH

Tough period
I WISH to refer to the letter by Mr. F. Hamley Case headed `There was a surge in foreign direct investment from 1989 to 1991' in the Sunday Stabroek of 25/04/2004 in response to my letter of 19/04/2004 headed `Private sector has not yet fully recovered'.

It seems to some extent that Mr. Case is actually making my case for me when I had said the private sector had been miniaturised under the PNC, when from 1964 to 1992 - 28 years - it was only for three years 1989 to 1991 that he can claim that "there was a surge of foreign direct investment".

In previous letters, I had pointed out that with the impending free and fair elections looming from 1990 under local and international pressure and with the ending of rigged elections, institutionalised under the PNC, it was widely expected that there would be a change of government.

With this expectation, Guyana had become an attractive investment destination and it is no wonder that investors would have sought opportunities in a country which was expected to have a democratic government shortly, hence perhaps the "surge" as Mr. Case says.

Mr. Case conveniently ignores or chooses not to comment on the serious economic difficulties experienced under the PNC when Guyana was adjudged to have become the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere under the anti-business policies, authoritarian, undemocratic and dictatorial rule of the PNC.

Businesses had grave difficulties in legally acquiring foreign exchange and it was a nightmare to get import licences.

Business people had to line up almost every day at the Bank of Guyana to see if they would have been allocated any foreign currency to pay their suppliers for goods already received. Numerous EC applications - one for each accepted draft had to be filed.

Payments had to be made in the equivalent local currency at increasing exchange rates and were deposited in the Bank's External Payments Deposit Account EPD.

Import licences had to pass through a number of Government agencies all of which had their own rubber stamps and it was necessary at times to add a sheet of paper to the licence in order to accommodate all these rubber stamps.

Business people became innovative and creative to get payments to their suppliers by buying foreign currency on the black market and sending it as well as gold jewellery and diamonds aboard through the traders, friends or relatives or business colleagues who opened foreign bank accounts for them to pay for goods or educate their children abroad.

Suppliers were also asked to overprice goods on their invoices when it had become increasingly obvious that Guyana was heading into the economic doldrums under the PNC so that foreign currency reserves were built up abroad.

Mr. Case refers to the few investments mainly between 1989 to 1991, which the PNC government had transacted without transparency, and accountability.

He quotes from a part of the American Embassy Country Commercial Guide - Guyana 1999.

What was not mentioned were the deliberate efforts made by the PNC opposition to discourage or even frighten away prospective investors - even telling then that they may have "to pack up and quietly fade away"

However, Guyana recorded the highest gain in Foreign Direct Investments among 140 countries assessed in the World Investment Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

According to the report, Guyana had ranked 58th in the world for Foreign Direct Investments for the period 1988-1990, but improved by 41 places to rank 17th in the world in 1999-2002.

Like I said, Mr. Case, the private sector always does better under a PPP government.

Apparently, you still believe in the tooth fairy, Father Christmas, man in the moon or Voodoo economics.
JOHN DA SILVA

Friday , April 30, 2004