State sector jobs dwindling - President in Independence anniversary address Guyana Chronicle May 26, 1999 PRESIDENT Janet Jagan has warned that the Government can no longer guarantee large scale employment in its agencies and has stressed the importance of the country attracting more foreign investment. "The days of a large state sector providing jobs for more and more people are over", she said in a broadcast to mark the nation's 33rd Independence anniversary today. "We are locked in a free market society where the private sector is the engine of growth. We now look towards private investment to do many of the things that government once did", the President said, warning there was little choice. "We can engage in an endless debate as to the relative goodness of such an economic system but prevailing conditions do not present us with viable alternatives." The Government is divesting several state agencies it inherited when it took office in October 1992, selling equity in bauxite, electricity, air transport, among other areas. The President argued that the Government has to "perfect the system so that the advantages are more than the disadvantages." She said this was "very important" for small economies like Guyana "since the bigger and more powerful countries tend to influence world development in their favour." "Last year, for instance, the prices of many of our export commodities fell to the extent that we cannot this year do all the things we had intended to do, including paying more to government employees and enhance the resuscitation of our infrastructure." In a strong reaffirmation of the linch pin role of the private sector and foreign investment in her Government's development plans, she said "I get the impression sometimes that there are some who do not see the creation of more wealth through foreign investment as having a direct relationship to their personal well-being." President Jagan said countries that have developed far ahead of Guyana "came to this conclusion a long time ago", doing everything to help create jobs and wealth. She criticised the pledge by her staunch opponent, People's National Congress (PNC) leader, Mr. Desmond Hoyte, to make the country "ungovernable" without naming him. "So when we have people say that they will make the country ungovernable and try to create uncertainties for investors, you must know that they will be taking bread from your mouth", she contended. "When revenues are not collected, then this will be reflected in the government's ability to provide services. "When factories are closed there will be less production, less foreign exchange and ultimately higher prices." She appealed to Guyanese as a nation to "settle down and carry on our business, including political and labour advocacy, in a manner which allows us to continue to create wealth." "It will be self-defeating to kill the goose that lays the golden egg", the President warned. She said her government recognises the plight in which many Guyanese live. "The reality is that the PPP/Civic administration has to confront a situation where the majority of our people were kept below the poverty line before we came into office", she said. The government, she noted, has engineered a "bold programme" aimed at eradicating poverty. The programme includes opening more opportunities for education and training, expanding economic activities, a vigorous housing programme, improving drainage and irrigation, increasing medical services and having a conducive atmosphere for job and wealth creating investments. In spite of strides in recent years, there was still a demand for more services and a better standard of living, President Jagan said. She felt these were not excessive or irresponsible demands but "expressions of hope" by citizens who have a stake in the development of the country. She said the public was outraged that "some players in the game are prepared to abuse the legitimate demands of the ordinary people to enhance their own selfish ends." "And in so doing, they are undermining the interests of those same people who they say they represent." Describing this as hypocrisy, Mrs. Jagan advised Guyanese to follow those with their well being at heart. "Let us have constructive dialogue on serious national issues, such as charting a course for our future development so that our people can see clearly where we are going", she urged. The President said her government wanted a society in which all citizens were equal in the eyes of the law, equal in the enjoyment of their constitutional rights, equal in the opportunities available in the country and equal in the distribution of wealth and services in the society. But such a national perspective for betterment cannot result from confrontation, the President said. She noted there would be differing ideas and modalities on how to advance but this was a good place to start to shape a national consensus. "Dialogue is an on-going and sometimes tedious process, but there is no alternative, as the experience of others has shown", she said. "We have gone out on a limb to show our good faith. And sometimes we need to out on a limb since that is where the fruit is." As Guyanese observe this Independence anniversary, Mrs. Jagan said they must always seek to preserve this status and enhance the democratic culture and create more options for Guyana. "It must be a culture which by its very nature has to be based on the involvement of all the people. It must be a culture for the respect for others; their views, their rights, religion, history, culture and way of life. "It must be a culture that appreciates the significance of law and order in our development process. It must be a culture of creating a better quality of lift. It must be a culture that puts Guyana first", she said. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples