—MPs considering amendments to legislation, Norton says
APNU Leader Aubrey Norton yesterday said the party supports the establishment of a development bank but fears that the government-controlled Guyana Development Bank could become a “slush fund” used to benefit PPP/C supporters and discriminate against others.
Speaking at an APNU press conference, Norton said members of the party’s parliamentary group had been discussing possible amendments to the recently enacted Guyana Development Bank Act.
He said he did not know whether the MPs had reached a decision on proposed amendments or submitted recommendations to him.
“We support the idea of a development bank. In fact, our manifesto had one,” Norton said at a virtual press conference yesterday.
“But what we have seen here is not a development bank. This looks like a slush fund that the PPP can use to give PPP people what they want and continue the process of discriminating against those who are not supportive of the PPP.”
APNU Member of Parliament Sharma Solomon said the party was particularly concerned about the mechanisms that would govern the distribution of loans and whether persons in every community would have equal access.
He also questioned whether the sectors identified for priority financing reflected the circumstances and developmental needs of all ten regions.
Solomon said residents of Linden had high expectations of the institution but government presentations had focused heavily on construction and agriculture.
He argued that farmers and prospective borrowers in Region Ten would be disadvantaged if they did not have the infrastructure and institutional support available to agricultural producers in other regions.
“What sort of supporting mechanisms will be there to help them, and what disadvantage will they be at if they don’t have those supporting mechanisms?” Solomon asked.
He said agriculture in Region Ten had historically received less investment than in some other regions and had only secured a dedicated regional agricultural budget within the last decade.
According to Solomon, the region still requires more farm-to-market roads, drainage and other infrastructure if its farmers are to make effective use of financing offered by the bank.
“Those areas that the bank has prioritised, we have concerns outside of not only the mechanisms of distribution,” he said.
President Irfaan Ali assented to the Guyana Development Bank Act on July 30, clearing the way for the establishment of a state-owned lending institution with initial capital of $40 billion.
Thebank is intended to provide small businesses with interest-free and collateral-free loans of up to $3 million.
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