Nandlall says Gov’t not creating conducive environment for economic development

Opposition Member of Parliament, Anil Nandlall writing in his weekly article “The Unruly Horse” said it is the undoubted responsibility of a government to create jobs, directly, as well as, indirectly.

“Governments create jobs, directly, through the pursuit of policies and projects specifically designed to create jobs; through the expansion of the public sector; through the expansion of state institutions; through the expansion of state-offered services; through capital/infrastructural projects and via various other government-driven initiatives. For example, the PPPC government’s Infrastructure and Housing policy alone generated several thousand jobs,” the article pointed out.

Nandlall noted that indirectly, it is the government’s duty to create a conducive environment  for the growth and expansion of the private sector and the attraction of local and foreign investments that will lead to the creation of jobs and proliferation of job- creating opportunities.

His comment comes on the heels of President David Granger’s recent statement that it is not the Government’s responsibility to create jobs but an enabling environment. The Head of State also touted the idea of self-employment, which did not find favour with the Opposition.

According to the Opposition MP, “quite apart from the President Granger’s flawed view that it is not the government’s obligation to create jobs, his shoving off that responsibility to the citizens (self-employment) and the private sector, is yet another indicia of how far removed from reality the President actually is.”

He claimed that “the economy is contracting; that the private sector is recording declining level of business activities and, consequently, profits; that the private sector is shedding staff to survive; that new investments are non- existent; that the new regime of increased taxation and anti- business policies of the government have had a debilitating factor on commercial activities.”

It is Nandlall’s contention that “the President, in attempting to abdicate his government’s responsibility to create jobs, has certainly become a victim of his own political artifice.”

On Thursday the Guyana Trades Union Congress called on the Government to implement a Job Creation Plan.

The GTUC said cognisant that some in the government feel that self-employment would be the driving force, the State still has a responsibility to make sure that the legal, social and economic frameworks are in place.

The Union’s call also followed the President’s recent statement.