Government’s developmental agenda set for the next five years

– No negotiations, the people voted for the agenda- GS Jagdeo

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo made it clear that the government’s development agenda is driven by the will of the Guyanese people, not by special interest groups or editorial opinion.

He made this comment while speaking at the party’s press conference Thursday at Freedom House, Robb Street in Georgetown.

Jagdeo, who is also the Vice President, reaffirmed that the PPP/C’s priorities which are better education, improved healthcare, greater support for pensioners, single parents, and persons with disabilities, job creation, home ownership, and community development across all regions.

These, Dr Jagdeo insisted, were mandated by the people at the polls not civil society, the non-governmental organisations or interest groups.

“We don’t take our mandate from civil society or Stabroek News or someone else that wants the government to seek their approval or approbation for any initiative we pursue. That mandate came from the people of Guyana. They voted on that mandate. And whilst we have to subject ourselves to the laws of the country, the financial laws, the fiscal laws, et cetera, whilst these projects have to be implemented in a transparent manner, going through the approval of parliament, the agenda is not subjected to negotiation, a renegotiation”, Dr Jagdeo said.

He stressed that the economic activities outside of Region Four will continue because the government had a huge part of growth in this region by providing a lot of opportunities.

The vice president affirmed that the government was now more focused on the nine other regions of the country where they have to migrate more business opportunities through a series of economic activities.

These activities, he added, will be supported either directly through financial injection from the treasury or through the creation of a series of incentives that could be fiscal in nature or infrastructure and other support in nature.

“But clearly the goal of the government is to expand economic activities in all of the other regions of the country. So, we make it easier for people who live in these communities to have jobs and better paying jobs. That agenda is not negotiable”, Dr Jagdeo said.

He bemoaned that every week the critics want to repurpose and reestablish the agenda.

“You listen to the GHRA and the Stabroek News editorials and the Kaieteur News and the others, and they want the change, establish the agenda every day. The agenda has been fixed for the five years. The people voted on it. It’s now how they get implemented and we have to implement them in a very transparent manner”, according to Dr Jagdeo.