This is the start of a new publication, one that will highlight the issues in Guyana. It will look at the various developments, social issues, hindrances to development, acts of corruption, and the various things that would occur in Guyana.
At this time of our development, Guyana is expending money in social infrastructure. Last year it spent millions of dollars on education and health, commissioning many schools and health facilities. Just this year, with the advent of the coronavirus, the administration was forced to channel even more resources toward establishing quarantine and isolation facilities.
It is important to note that because of some acts in the society, acts sparked by the No Confidence Motion on December 18, 2018, there has been no national budget for more than a year. The result is that the government can only spend one-twelfth of its monthly budget rooted in what was allocated in 2018.
There was some oil revenue but the government rather than making those earnings a part of the national budget caused to be established a Sovereign Wealth Fund. This is a fund that would ensure that there is money long after the oil fields would have run dry. It represents a case of preserving Guyana’s wealth for future generations.
This publication would examine how large companies contribute to development either by undertaking contracts that would in the past have gone to foreign companies.
There would be a lot of attention on the oil sector which for the foreseeable future, would be driving Guyana’s development. Indeed, some of the key performers have failed to be the mainstays of the national economy.
Rice, although production is high, is not eh major earner it once was. Neither is sugar and bauxite. In fact, these two have all but gone to the wall. Sugar, for its part, still earns some foreign exchange but up until a year ago, it was a drain on the economy.
There is a programme of diversification and this too will attract the focus of this newspaper.
Development is rooted in people so a lot of attention would be on people, the individuals who make things happen. Many of these are the national leaders. Equally, there is the ordinary man, many of whom fashioned their lives and created opportunities for their self-employed children.
Technology drives the world today and while Guyana is playing the game of catch-up it is doing everything to ensure that its population is familiar with the technology. Distance education and other aspects of e-learning are the driving forces behind Guyana’s telecommunications development.
The result is that there is continuous development in the telecommunication sector. Such is the movement in this sector that traditional sources of income such as telephone calls have dried up largely because of the development in Voice Over Internet Protocol. There must be other sources of income for telecommunication service providers.
This publication would bring all the developments in these sectors to the point of highlighting the driving forces behind whatever action is taken.
