Opposition’s ‘empty promises’ no match for government’s achievements – Min Bharrat

Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat has dismissed the campaign promises of the opposition as empty rhetoric intended to trick the Guyanese people again.

The minister emphasised that the people must judge the parties based on their performance and delivery during their tenure rather than campaign promises.

He was at the time addressing the National Assembly on day two of the 2025 budget debates.

The minister reminded the house that in 2015, the APNU+AFC coalition presented a series of ambitious campaign promises to entice Guyanese.

“[They promised] waiving of duties on fuel, tools, and small-scale mining equipment. They instead put VAT [value-added tax] on machinery for mining, agriculture and logging.

It is easy to make fake promises like they did in 2015. From 2015 to 2020, we went backwards instead of moving forward. Again, in 2025 they will come with those fake promises,” he stated.

Minister Bharrat told the National Assembly that the PPP/C Government has delivered its manifesto commitments and surpassed most of the targets.

He said the government is now in the phase of building on the vast developments that have already been unfolded countrywide.

These include the commitment to providing 50,000 jobs, doubling old-age pension and reinstating and increasing the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant to $50,000 per child.

“Reopening of sugar estates to create employment for our people, promise fulfilled. The removal of VAT on electricity and water that the APNU+AFC government instituted against our ordinary Guyanese people, promise fulfilled. New hospitals, new schools, new roadways, new highways, promise fulfilled,” he stated.

Minister Bharrat spoke of the revitalisation of the bauxite and forestry sectors; the improved management framework being implemented in the oil and gas sector and the expansion in mining and quarrying.

Bauxite Sector

Production in the bauxite industry soared to 1.7 million tonnes last year.

Minister Bharrat lamented that the sector had to overcome significant challenges due to the mismanagement under the previous government.  

“[The production] could have been higher if they didn’t mismanage the situation with Rusal in the Berbice River, which cost almost 1,000 Guyanese, mostly in Kwakwani, Ituni, the Berbice River and New Amsterdam, their jobs and the livelihood of their families,” he said.

Gold Sector

The minister pointed out that peak production in the gold sector was in 2016. This was owed to the strategic investment of the previous PPP/C government which laid the groundwork for this progress in the sector.

“It was the work of the People’s Progressive Party in ensuring that the Aurora Gold Mine was established and started to produce. It was the work of the People’s Progressive Party Civic Government that ensured that Troy Resources invested and they started to produce,” he noted.

Forestry Sector

Guyana is also making its mark in the forestry sector, recording one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world and sustainably utilising its forest assets to create additional revenue streams.

Guyana is also the only country that has signed on to the European Union (EU) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) which aims to improve forest governance and combat illegal logging.

“We are one of the few countries in the world that our forest is Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification [PEFC] certified. That is to show sustainability and legality and traceability for wood and wood products,” the minister added.

He also dismantled the opposition’s contention that Guyana’s economic growth and progress in various sectors is owed wholly to its oil resources.

Minister Bharrat clarified that the current government’s practical policies have fostered growth in the sector.

“It is not how much you have. It is how well you manage it. And that is what the APNU+AFC couldn’t do,” he said.