“Know your history, or else, somebody else will write it for you” – Min. Jordan
– Finance Minister urges Guyanese to remain vigilant, be informed
DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, March 20, 2019
As Guyana gears for General and Regional Elections, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan today urged citizens to remain vigilant and be well informed.
Minister Jordan said the upcoming polls would be the most crucial of all. He said every right-thinking Guyanese must know and understand their past, their present and the direction they wish to go.
Such understanding must, therefore, inform their decisions whenever the country goes to the polls.
The Finance Minister was at the time speaking to residents of constituency 13, East/West Ruimveldt, at the Ascension Secondary School. The meeting there was part of a more extensive Ministerial outreach to the 15 constituencies in the Capital City today.
“Whenever this election is called, it will be the mother of all elections ever held in this country. This is no time to waiver,” Minister Jordan told the full house.
“You have to know your history, or else, somebody else will write it for you.”
Minister Jordan said the evidence is right before the eyes of every Guyanese about the anguish the former administration put the country through.
From the outright squandering of public funds, to the abuse of power, to the blatant thieving of the country’s resources, Minister Jordan said, it is clear the former administration did not have the country’s best interest at heart.
He spoke of the amount of work the government had to put in immediately after taking office in 2015. These including finding some $12Billion to pump into the failing Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), and the billions that were pumped in the years following.
The Government was also forced to find over $5Billion to pay rice farmers who were snubbed by the Venezuelan Government from the Petro Caribe agreement. Added to that, Minister Jordan reminded that the Fund was “broke”. Although burdened with such stress, he noted, the government has still been able to accomplish much.
“It is this government that had to pay back the National Insurance Scheme [NIS] over $5Billion. And every year we have to give NIS back their money, and it has to come from your [taxpayers] pocket. And it is this government that has to pay for the Marriot Hotel. A hotel that is supposed to be giving you money, the government has to pay for it. It is this government that is subsidising the Berbice Bridge.”
According to Minister Jordan, the events of December 21, 2018, was not a “death sentence” for the Coalition Government. While the administration was given a blow, it remained standing.
“The people who activated the ‘sleeper’ thought they knocked us out. But we are still up,” the minister told the full house at the Ascension Secondary School.
The meeting today followed a meet and greet by Minister Jordan in the community.
Alexis Rodney.
Images: The Department of Public Information.