E i 3e tis e an i ky
'Eradit Poverty abni Unifying G a
A GINA Publication
National Development Strategy -
"Eradicating Poverty and Unifying Guyana"
At the last sitting of Parliament, Government put forward as an
amendment, a call for the PNC Reform to support the
implementation of the National Development Strategy (NDS) and
the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Both documents
were compiled locally, with information gathered through a
consultative process with the Guyanese public.
To many, there is not a clear understanding of what these
documents are and why in the context of Guyana's development,
they are important.
The overall objectives of the National Development Strategy -
Civil Society Document are:
To attain the highest rates of economic
growth that are possible;
To eliminate poverty in Guyana;
To achieve geographical unity;
To attain an equitable geographical
distribution of economic activity;
To diversify the economy;
Who came up with these objectives? The people of Guyana i.e.
civil society defined as "individuals and groups, organised or
unorganised, who interact in the social, political and economic
spheres of a country."
Two basic considerations form the strategy. One, that the scourge
of racism is removed and that an inclusive system of governance
be developed and practiced so that all would feel that they have a
stakeholding interest. Two, that a considerable degree of harmony
would prevail the country if social and economic growth policies
were formulated and implemented to benefit the population.
The strategy outlines a multi-pronged approach by which these
objectives can be achieved. Firstly, the strategy is to ensure that
the practices followed by all central, regional and local
governments (both present and past) are as "inclusionary,
accountable and transparent as possible."
The second prong of the strategy is linked to the macro-economic
policy and economic management and includes:
1. Reforming the tax system, eliminating and reducing some
taxes, introducing a more effective and equitable tax and
simplifying taxation procedures to induce increased
investment and incentives for investors to engage in new
ventures in economically depressed areas.
2. Formulating an investment strategy and code to encourage
investors to invest in the country and to spell out the terms
and conditions under which they would be required to
operate.
3. Establishing a one-stop investment agency to expedite and
facilitate the actual investment process in Guyana through
GO-INVEST.
4. Enhancing the efficiency both of the country's revenue
collection agencies and of those institutions that are
charged with procurement, and with other forms of
expenditure, and with their monitoring.
5. Designing systems that would focus on trade promotion
and mobilising our economy to generate increased export.
The third prong of the strategy is the establishment of a road
network throughout the length and breadth of Guyana over the next
ten years and includes the rehabilitation and modernisation of the
coastal roads, the placement of bridges across Supenaam linking
the Essequibo Coast, the Demerara and the Berbice rivers, the
construction of an up-to-date north south road from Georgetown to
the Takutu. Also included is the construction of two deep-water
harbours in the Berbice and Demerara rivers and the improvement
of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Timehri and the Ogle
Airport.
The fourth prong approach is the role and the importance of
Information Technology in the modernisation of Guyana. This
includes the reform of the Public Utilities Commission, the full
computerisation of the Public Service including Ministries,
departments and institutions that are responsible for finance,
education and health, the utilisation of IT in the process of
education and the provision of health services at all levels and the
establishment of Internet linkages between the University of
Guyana and institutions of learning in other parts of the world.
Other aspects to the use of Information Technology are forging
linkages with expatriate Guyanese in order to utilise them as part
of the Guyanese work force, establishing deadlines for the full
computerisation of various sectors of the economy and setting up
public centers to provide access for all to computers and the
internet.
The fifth prong approach is the enhancement of social services,
through which poverty can be eradicated and productivity
improved. The Strategy foresees the expenditure of significant
proportions of financial resources to provide universal access to
educational and health facilities at all levels and in all places.
Emphasis is also placed on increasing the number of physical
structures through which these services will be offered, the
availability of necessary equipment, trained teachers and qualified
health personnel.
Other approaches forming the focus of the National Development
Strategy are:
Reform of the Public Service; the role of the family and the
importance of gender considerations in the process of social and
economic development; the conservation of the environment;
Amerindian development and implementation of the NDS. It was
recognized that apart from government, multilateral and bilateral
sources of financing, successful implementation also depends on
the private sector. Thus, the suggestion was advanced that
agreements be entered into with the private sector to "build,
operate and transfer ownership (BOT) and build, operate and own
(BOO) arrangements. Therefore, in return for their services,
finances and investment, persons either will be allowed to charge
tolls or be recompensed for their expenditure through utilising
Guyana's natural resources or by being paid cash over a specific
period. Alternatively, a combination of all these methods could be
considered.
The Civil Society Document of the National Development Strategy
projects that if the programmes of the NDS are fully implemented,
the average annual growth of Guyana's Gross Domestic Product
between 2001-2010 could be 9%
The following section is extracted from the NDS Document
SECTORS OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
Governance To ensure that governance is
participatory and inclusionary.
That the rule of law prevails
throughout the land.
Governance is transparent
Government officers and politicians
are accountable to Guyanese citizens.
Macro-economic To promote high growth rates of
Strategies and the output and employment.
Management of the To ensure that inflation remains at
Economy relatively low levels.
To ensure that the population's basic
needs are met and that the growth
process contributes to a reduction of
poverty.
To ensure that the growth path is
sustainable in fiscal, environmental
and institutional terms.
SECTORS
Environment
Information
Technology
OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
* To enhance the quality of life of the
country's inhabitants by utilising its
natural resources while neither
degrading nor contaminating them.
* To ensure that the natural resource
base for economic growth continues to
be available in the future.
* To intensify and widen the dimensions
of our living standards through the
conservation of unique habitats,
natural treasures, biodiversity and our
cultural heritage.
* To assist in the modernisation of
Guyana through the application of
information technology to all aspects
of the country's development,
including the macro-economic and
public sector management, the
production and export of agricultural
and industrial goods and the provision
of the basic social services of
education and health.
* To rationalise the telecommunications
sector by clearly defining the role of
competition in its operations, and by
establishing a legal and operational
framework for its regulation.
* To provide universal access by the
Guyanese population and its private
and public sector institutions to the
Internet at affordable rates, through
the encouragement of the
development of systems that allow for
the widest dissemination.
Energy To secure an adequate and
SECTORS OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
dependable supply of electricity in
order to ensure the country's future
economic development. This includes
improving the quantity, quality and
reliability of the electricity supply.
Reducing our dependency on
imported petroleum products.
Increasing the utilisation of new and
renewable domestic energy
resources.
Ensuring that energy is used in an
environmentally sound and
sustainable way and encouraging
energy conservation practices.
SECTORS OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
Transport ROAD:
To construct a national road transport
network which would provide the basis
for the economic development of the
entire country.
To establish road linkages with Brazil
and Venezuela and through these
countries with the rest of South,
Central and North America in order to
facilitate trade.
AIR:
To improve the standard of living and
the quality of life of Guyanese by
providing air access to different parts
of the world and to different areas in
Guyana.
To enhance penetration into the
country's interior to assist the tourism
industry.
To provide facilities to enable easy
ingress to and egress from the interior
in times of emergency.
MARINE:
To promote efficient and reliable
maritime transport in the coastal and
riverain areas of the country,
particularly as it relates to the major
sector of the country.
To ensure that the facilities and
services that are available at the
ports and harbours of the country
optimise the export and import of all
types of commodities from and into
Guyana.
Sugar To improve the competitiveness of the
SECTORS OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
industry so that it may increase its
contribution to the development of
Guyana.
Rice To ensure that the industry becomes
internationally competitive so as to
ensure sustainability in the face of
reduced preferential access and falling
export prices.
To increase padi yields per acre and
milling yields.
To reduce transportation costs by
developing export facilities such as
bulk loading facilities.
* To develop institutions which would
facilitate the improvement of the
operations of the agricultural sector,
by enhancing their efficiency in
providing public services in the
production and marketing of
agricultural produce.
* To improve institutional support for the
development of the diversified small
farm sector.
* To improve coordination between
national and local institutions so that
local communities can access
information and resources from other
levels of government.
* Increase long-run viability of
institutions for agricultural finance.
Non-Traditional To increase the rate of growth within
Agriculture the sector and its output so that a
most significant number of job
opportunities would be created.
Fisheries To increase the production of shellfish
Agricultural
Institutions
SECTORS OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
and fin-fish in an environmentally
sound manner in order to increase the
economic benefits to Guyana.
Forestry To increase the economic benefits
which Guyana derives from its forests
and associated resources and to
distribute equitably the benefits of
forest-based developments to
Guyana's rural and interior areas.
To promote sustainable and efficient
forest activities, which utilise a broad
range of forest resources and
contribute to national development.
To achieve improved sustainable
forest resource yields while ensuring
the conservation of ecosystems,
biodiversity and the environment.
Ensure watershed protection and
rehabilitation.
Water SEA DEFENCES:
To ensure that the assets, productivity
and livelihood of those Guyanese who
inhabit the coastal belt are protected
from the ravages of the Atlantic
Ocean.
DRAIN AND IRRIGATION:
To contribute to the national goal of
equitable and rapid economic growth
by facilitating increased agricultural
production and other economic activity
on the coastland.
Mining To establish the foundations for the
continuing growth of the sector so that
it may contribute to the economic
growth of the country, the equitable
SECTORS OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
geographical distribution of economic
activity throughout the nation, the
diversification of our economy, the
penetration of the hinterland and the
eradication of poverty particularly in
depressed interior areas.
Manufacturing To increase its contribution to the
economy's overall development
through a rapid increase of production
and employment in the manufacturing
sector.
To stimulate a judicious degree of
diversification.
To have a wider utilisation of relevant
and adaptable modern technology.
Education To raise the level of literacy and
numeracy in the population.
To improve the population's command
of life skills.
To meet the special education needs
of children who are physically or
mentally challenged in one way or
another.
To undertake a remedial or
recuperative campaign at the level of
adult education for all school leavers
and other adults who have not
attained sufficient levels of literacy.
To reduce regional inequalities in
education.
To increase the gender sensitivity of
the system at all levels with regard to
specific issues affecting both males
and females.
Focussing more on scientific and
SECTORS OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
technical education, computer literacy
and informatics.
Health To increase the length of healthy life
for all people in Guyana and to reduce
health disparities among social
groups.
To improve the population's access to
health care and the quality of care that
is offered while ensuring that the
health services are provided cost
effectively.
Tourism To focus on an unambiguous strategy
of pursuing high quality, up-market
eco-tourism in controlled numbers that
do not exceed scientifically
determined carrying capacities of
interior sites.
Urban Development To make Georgetown and other cities
more habitable places and meeting
the citizens' requirements for
improved access to basic services and
amenities.
To improve, upgrade and sustain
urban infrastructure.
To improve the quality, efficiency and
effectiveness of municipal
management services.
To zone Georgetown in a way that
protects residents from noxious
activities and also protects its
priceless architectural heritage.
Land To improve the efficiency with which
land resources are utilised in
production.
To provide increase access to land on
SECTORS
OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
the part of landless rural and urban
families and farming families with
limited acreages.
To rationalise the land selection
process and committees, in order to
ensure that applications are reviewed
objectively and acted upon
expeditiously.
To clarify national land policy.
To develop new lands that have the
potential for sustaining economic
activities.
To make more effective use of
Guyana's State land resources by
putting in place a proper lease
management system with better
documentation and an effective
system for collecting lease rentals.
Housing To expand the supply of housing more
rapidly.
To make housing as affordable as
possible.
To provide improved access to
housing for poor families.
Amerindians To improve the socio-economic
conditions of the Amerindians of
Guyana
To empower Amerindians to formulate
and implement policies, plans and
strategies for the development of their
own communities.
To enable Amerindians to participate
in all the mainstream activities of
Guyanese society, without adversely
affecting the enhancement of their
SECTORS OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
communities and the preservation of
their culture.
To ensure the rights of Amerindians,
particularly those relating to land
ownership and land natural resources
development are recognized and
honoured.
Gender Issues To achieve sectoral growth and
development based on equity for
women.
To bring gender considerations into
the mainstream of development policy
and promote a pattern of development
based on gender sensitive policies
that are designed, implemented and
monitored with women's full and equal
participation.
To improve our understanding and
increase our awareness of the
situation of women and develop
sensitivity towards gender issues not
only within government but within
society as a whole.
The Family To enable Guyanese to create lives
that are at least sufficient and
liberating in economic, social, cultural
and spiritual terms.
Labour and To reduce unemployment and
Employment underemployment, and ultimately
poverty, by providing greater avenues
for employment, greater labour
flexibility and mobility and by
enhancing the productivity of both
labour and capital.
To encourage the development of
SECTORS
OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
labour-intensive industries and modes
of production in the short-term and to
increase productivity in the medium to
long term.
To increase the skills, education and
productivity of the labour force through
improved technical and vocational
education and an ongoing, structured
and relevant on the job training
programme.
To define clearly the role, rights and
responsibilities of trade unions,
employers and Government and to
legitimise the rights of collective
bargaining.
The Private Sector To have the private sector become the
engine of growth of the economy by
increasing and diversifying production,
by increasing competitiveness, by
concentrating on the export sector
thereby reducing the incidences of
poverty and unemployment and
raising the standard of living of the
citizens of Guyana.
Poverty Eradication To ensure that every individual or
family in Guyana is able to afford or
provide themselves with the basic
necessities of life.
Provide effective relief from the
immediate deprivation suffered by the
poor in respect of basic necessities
such as nutrition, health care,
schooling, housing and potable water
so that they may be freed from
intensive concern in these areas be
Source: NDS
SECTORS OBJECTIVES -Where Guyana
should be in 2010
able to devote their energies more
fully to activities that improve their
lives economically, socially, politically
and culturally.
These projected achievements are significant for Nation Building.
|