Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 20, 2014 News
Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh has described as a blatant lie and publicity stunt, statements purportedly made by Opposition Leader David Granger, which claimed that his party was being sidelined from budget consultations.
Granger’s statements were published in the Saturday 17th edition of the Kaieteur News under the headline “APNU says its being sidelined from Budget consultation- will force implementation of reforms if concerns not taken on board”.
The Finance Minister claimed that he had sent an email to the opposition on January 13, 2014, inviting them to meet on the 2014 Budget and he requested APNU’s shadow Minister of Finance Carl Greenidge to “suggest a date during the past or coming week” for them to meet.
The email was copied to David Granger, Lance Carberry, Khemraj Ramjattan, Dr. Roger Luncheon, and Gail Teixeira.
Dr. Singh mentioned that the email also contained copies of documents to be discussed.
“To date my invitation has been met with stony silence by the Messrs. Granger and Greenidge,” he stressed.
The Finance Minister expressed that this is not the first invitation that was issued to APNU to discuss the 2014 Budget, since he said a government team had already initiated discussions with the opposition in the latter part of 2013.
“I do not wish to speculate on whether this was a case of an internal breakdown in communication in the leadership of APNU between Messrs. Greenidge and Granger, but the fact of the matter is that the Government of Guyana has issued an invitation to the Opposition to meet and that invitation has not received a response,” said Singh.
Singh said that Granger should instruct Greenidge to respond to the email, which invited them to talks on the budget.
The Finance Minister said that government remains open to meet with the Opposition and looks forward to a response from APNU on their invitation to advance discussions on the 2014 Budget.
In the article that was published on Saturday Granger had said with respect to budget talks, “real face to face consultation has not taken place.”
He said that while there has been some engagement, the concerns of APNU have not been taken on board by the Minister of Finance up to the present time.
“So we cannot expect that in the remaining two months we would be able to cover sufficient ground. The budget is a very complicated document with three huge volumes like an encyclopedia and it calls for a lot of data. People cannot simply produce a shopping list and expect that shopping list to be accepted. We have to be given the information on which to base our plans, the government has all that information, it has all the technicians and I would say we have been sidelined from the process up to the present time.”
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
Mar 29, 2024
By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sports – After a series of outstanding performances in 2023, Tianna Springer, dubbed the ‘wonder girl’, is eagerly gearing up to compete in this year’s...Kaieteur News – Good Friday in Guyana is not what it used to be. The day has lost much of its solemnity. The one day... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – In the face of escalating global environmental challenges, water scarcity and... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]