overty is the
thief of national well-being, robbing individuals of
hope, health and happiness. Guyana’s well-being
cannot be regained while its people remain in
poverty, nor can its national purpose be met when
its people’s myriad individual purposes are
thwarted. And Guyana’s leaders deceive themselves if
they think that the country—and they—can achieve
prosperity and greatness without lifting up the
common citizens from their impoverished state.
In other words,
Guyana’s national problems are inextricably
interwoven with the well-being of its citizens.
When the country is impoverished, the population
suffers poverty as well. But when it is
economically vibrant, so will its citizens be
economically well-off.
Most of my
mother’s side of the family are from Unity, on the
east coast of Demerara. Every day they worked hard
in the fields of their plantation. As rice became
less profitable, they learned to grow fresh produce,
which they took to the market to sell. Guyana still
has many families who live in this way, barely
surviving. The world has changed, and the cost of
living is high, so that such families can barely
produce enough to live on hand to mouth, much less
be able to put away a few dollars.
At present Guyana
has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the
poorest nations in the western hemisphere. Almost
half the population is unemployed. Nearly 35% of all
Guyanese live in absolute poverty, and 20% live in a
state of critical poverty. Poverty is particularly
prevalent amongst single-parent families, and it
affects women more than it does men. And amongst
ethnic groups, indigence is especially marked
amongst the Amerindian tribes, 80% of whose members
fall below the poverty line.
But mere
statistics do not communicate the true extent of
misery and loss. They do not tell of the narrow
boundaries within which a person who lacks the most
basic necessities, who spends the day hungry and the
night restless, must live. They do not tell of the
texture of a life of want, of its lowered horizons
and its desperation growing into hopelessness.
But when we can
feel the plight of the poor, if only in sympathy and
imagination, we will be powerfully motivated to
extricate every poor person from the imprisonment of
his wretched condition. And with that understanding
will come the national resolve to liberate Guyana
from its collective poverty.
The Causes of
Poverty
Poverty is a
complex set of circumstances, a life lived with
discomfort and pain, a life that shares its
existence with hunger and crime, drug abuse and drug
trafficking, violence, brutality, prostitution and
the exploitation of others.
Much of the
poverty in Guyana is not the result of individuals’
weaknesses but rather of ill-planned social and
economic policies over decades. These policies,
despite their good intentions, have led to
deleterious effects that have destroyed people’s
incentive to work. As a result of these policies,
for instance, transportation costs from farm to
markets have risen, destroying the ability of
farmers to support themselves; skilled and
professional wages, removing the incentive to get
training and work hard; and so forth.
When the first
settlers came to Guyana—Amerindians and later on
settlers from across the water—they saw a land of
natural wealth and hope: a land of promise. The
dreams have grown tarnished, but the human spirit
can never be extinguished. This fertile, abundant
land is a land of promise, and we can make it keep
its ancient promise.
ur goal must be
the eradication of poverty in Guyana within the
coming decade. This is no easy task, but neither is
it an impossible dream.
In order to reach
this goal, we must create prosperity for all. We
must give every Guyanese access to basic and
essential services such as water, food, and
electricity. In the course of doing so, we must
institute reforms that attack the very roots of
poverty: lack of education, poor health and social
services, inadequate housing, poor nutrition, and
pandemic diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis.
The way to
eradicate poverty is to implement a comprehensive
strategy whose aim is to expand the economy as a
whole. This will lead to the creation of new jobs
and broader access to credit, education, training
programs, and decent housing.
Remaking Guyana
will not be a mere facelift. It will be a total
transformation necessitating the re-organization of
government and its ministries. Let us be bold in
action and audacious in vision. We can make great
things happen.
A Game Plan for
Success
No individual
factor can be singled out as a cause of poverty. And
so simply adjusting one or two items will not
overcome the problem.
Instead, we must
work on an integrated, coordinated program
specifically geared to the goals of eliminating
homelessness, hunger, health epidemics,
overpopulation, and inequitable distribution of
resources and services. Such a program must
encompass the fields of education,
employment, housing, health care,
and a variety of forms of public assistance.
!
In education, we must see to it that children
stay in school and that those of an age to work have
access to training in fields such as computer
software and management, as well as to traditional
education that may have passed them by.
!
In the realm of employment, the poor must
have greater access to decent wages, decent jobs and
the possibility of self-employment and
entrepreneurship. We must give the poor businessman
access to credit, making special provision for small
businesses and their micro-credit needs. And the
rural poor must have access to land, working capital
and agricultural jobs.
!
The poor must have access to decent housing
that provides adequate shelter, including protection
from the elements and bath and toilet facilities.
!
And in addition, they must have access to decent
primary health care.
!
Social service agencies must be coordinated and
provide the necessary public assistance for
the indigent.
And that which
Guyana cannot fund with its present budget must be
sought from international social organisations,
philanthropists and wealthy Guyanese.
Now let us present
a schematic outline of what will be necessary to
bring prosperity to Guyana.
!
Education
"
Provide traditional education for the working-age
poor.
"
Expand retraining opportunities for newly displaced
workers.
"
Provide training in management, computer software,
evaluation procedures and modern approaches to
public policy formation.
"
We must keep children in school.
!
Employment
"
Create new jobs.
"
In order to attract qualified personnel to
higher-level positions and to retain them, we must
offer them substantially higher wages.
"
Create and expand opportunities for self-employment.
!
Housing
"
Make houses and housing facilities available for
those below the poverty line.
!
Credit
"
Allow access to credit by all classes of society.
"
Provide access to small business and micro-credit
for older workers, in concert with the participation
and consultation of the private sector.
!
Health Care
"
Provide families with primary health care, in order
to prevent the deterioration of welfare and human
capital.
!
Consolidation
"
As traditional industries are restructured, the
burden on public social programs is likely to grow
for a period. This will necessitate increased
reliance on short-term social protection
interventions. To do so most effectively, we must
consolidate:
-
Management reforms.
-
Service delivery reforms.
"
Integrate and co-ordinate programs across
ministries.
"
Improve benefits.
!
Access Improvement.
"
Improve access of the rural poor to land, working
capital and agriculture.
"
Expand services to the hinterland.
!
Non-Governmental Assistance
"
Set up an inviting, open-door policy to the world's
social organizations and philanthropists.
"
Encourage wealthy Guyanese to establish charitable
foundations by providing tax credits and other
benefits.
In Sum
Prosperity is an
integrated, holographic whole. That which benefits
the entire society benefits each member of society.
And that which benefits each individual benefits
everyone. We can create prosperity by expanding the
resources of the nation as a whole and then bringing
those new resources to every Guyanese citizen.
That is the role
of government: not to control the economy but to
guide it; not to be its master but its steward.
When the forces of free enterprise, tempered by
limitations on corporate abuse, can flourish, then
all Guyanese will prosper.
