No developmental impact from December 21 vote – Min Jordan
DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, December 4, 2019
The event of December 21, 2018, in the National Assembly did not render the Coalition Government powerless in the execution of its mandate with the administration continuing on the path of development.
Almost a year later, Minister of Finance, the Hon. Winston Jordan said there were no impediments to the government’s developmental plans for this year since the 2019 budget was already successfully passed.
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan during his appearance on the DPI’s One on One interview
“We had a full year’s budget. The government is still in place almost a year after the no-confidence motion, and so we executed the budget, just as if it were a normal year,” Minister Jordan told DPI today during an exclusive interview.
According to the minister, there were no impositions on expenditure relating to the budget itself. Such obligations, he said, would come from outside the budget.
Back in June, the government went to Parliament to secure additional funding for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and some other areas.
However, Minister Jordan noted that there were some hiccups, including issues with the sea defence on the east and west coasts of Demerara, and emergencies in the power generation sector which required additional financing.
The minister added that the motion did not affect the disbursement of aid from international donors. However, Jordan explained that most of Guyana’s engagements are at the multilateral level with India and China being the most prominent partners at the bilateral level.
“As far as I am aware, we had no problems with those two as it relates to disbursements. The disbursements might have been slow because of the problems encountered on the projects,” he said.
He pointed out that the broadband project with Chinese company Huawei has been going smoothly while support from the World bank – the largest disburser so far this year – has continued.
Minister Jordan stated that the traditional production sectors were unaffected by the vote. And while he did note the challenges in the bauxite industry, he said it was expected to meet this year’s target.
The agriculture sector, though dented by the underperformance of GuySuCo, has seen heightened performances in areas such as rice and forestry.
“Overall, I think the growth rate would be on target,” Minister Jordan stated.