Category: CANA News

Caribbean-American American Democratic Congresswoman, Yvette D. Clarke, has condemned what she described as the Donald Trump administration’s ‘unauthorised’ military strikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela and in the Caribbean Sea.

‘Since September, the Trump administration has carried out a series of unauthorised military strikes off the coast of Venezuela, across the Caribbean, and the Eastern Pacific,’ Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC). ‘These operations have resulted in more than 80 deaths across 20 separate strikes-actions undertaken without congressional authorization, in clear violation of our Constitution.

‘This ‘kill first and ask questions never’ approach is not only unlawful but fundamentally un-American. These strikes have done nothing to curb the opioid crisis here at home.

‘Instead, they reflect poor leadership and reckless decision-making at the highest levels, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issuing a verbal order ‘to kill everybody’ during a second strike on a suspected drug vessel, which is an alarming directive that demonstrates a cavalier disregard for both US and international law’.

Clarke said to date, the administration has provided no credible evidence to justify its actions and rather than taking responsibility or accountability, this administration has shown nothing short of cowardly leadership by attempting to shift blame onto Navy Vice Admiral Frank Bradley for this unauthorised escalation toward conflict with Venezuela.

She noted that Congressional Democrats have called for briefings and hearings to address ‘these unlawful military actions.

‘Until we receive a formal explanation from the administration, it must cease using our Armed Forces for any hostilities in Venezuela or across the Caribbean. The Trump administration must atone for its actions before more are taken without due process and before further damage is done to our relationships with our Caribbean and Venezuelan neighbours.’

Under escalating pressure to provide more information to Congressional leaders and to explain the ‘unauthorised’ military strikes on alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean Sea, President Trump said earlier this week that he agreed to releasing a video depicting the second military strike on an alleged narco-trafficking vessel that killed the remaining survivors in a September strike in the Caribbean Sea.

‘I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release, no problem,’ he told reporters in the Oval Office at the White House.

‘Every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives. If you look at our numbers, the drugs coming out through sea are down 91 per cent.’

The US military reportedly struck the alleged drug-trafficking boat on September 2 four times- twice to kill the 11 suspects on board and an additional two times to sink the boat.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Admiral Frank Bradley, the commander of US Special Operations Command, ‘made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat.

A fighting, unbeaten century from Shai Hope coupled with Justin Greaves’ stellar half century have put West Indies in position to push for an unlikely but possible victory against New Zealand heading into Friday’s fifth and final day of the opening Test.

Hope, who finished the day on 116 not out, along with Greaves, who is unbeaten on 55, have so far added 140 runs for the fifth wicket to guide West Indies to 212 for four, still a mammoth 319 runs away from their target of 531.

The pair rescued their side from the perilous position of 72 for four, with New Zealand seemingly in position to wrap up the match on the fourth day.

However, stellar batting from the two Barbadians kept the home side in the field for the majority of the day, while giving them hope of pulling off what would be the highest successful run chase in Test cricket history.

The Windies currently hold that record, having scored 418 for seven to defeat Australia over 22 years ago. New Zealand will still be favourites to win the contest, despite being two bowlers short with Matt Henry only able to bowl 11 overs before pulling up with a calf injury, while Nathan Smith, who is suffering from a side strain, has yet to bowl in the second innings.

After the home side declared on 466 for eight in the morning session leaving the Windies with a record run chase, openers John Campbell and Tagenarine Chanderpaul carried them to 20 without loss at the luncheon interval.

On resumption though, things fell apart when first innings hero Jacob Duffy had Campbell caught low down at second slip by Michael Bracewell for the addition of only four runs.

Duffy struck again in his next over when he had Chanderpaul caught behind for six to leave the visitors 25 for two.

Alick Athanaze only scored five before he toe-ended his attempted pull shot off spinner Michael Bracewell straight to mid on, and when captain Roston Chase feathered a catch behind to wicketkeeper Tom Latham off Henry’s bowling, West Indies were in danger of being bowled out at 72 for four.

However, Hope and Greaves came together to rescue their side and push the match into a fifth day.

Hope, batting in sunglasses for the second time in the match due to an eye infection, was his usual aggressive self, hitting Bracewell for two sublime boundaries to move to 49 off 69 balls.

He reached his second half century of the match two overs later by pulling Bracewell to mid on for a single.

They carried the score to 107 for four at tea and on resumption they nullified New Zealand’s bowling attack with solid defensive play mixed with occasional aggression.

Hope smashed Duffy for three boundaries to move into the 90s, with another four off Bracewell carrying him to 98.

He subsequently brought up his fourth Test century off 139 balls by driving spinner Rachin Ravindra through cover for a single.

Greaves was the more defensive of the two, but when Duffy continually peppered him with short deliveries, he rocked back and pulled him through midwicket with disdain to reach his second Test half century off 123 balls.

The two finished the day with little alarm, but will know they will have to bat for a large portion of Friday’s final day if the Windies are to avoid a heavy defeat.

Earlier, veteran fast bowler Kemar Roach picked up three of the four New Zealand wickets to fall before the declaration, to capture his 12th five-wicket haul in Tests.

The 37-year-old had both Bracewell and Henry caught behind by wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach for 24 and eight, respectively, and then held on to a return catch from Duffy on the second attempt, to move within nine wickets of 300 Test scalps.

Roach claimed 5-78 to finish with match figures of 7-125, while Ojay Shields took 2-74.

The United Nations is being starved quietly. This month in New York, the Secretary-General, António Guterres, warned the General Assembly’s budget committee that the UN is entering a ‘race to bankruptcy.’

The organisation ended 2024 with about US$760 million in unpaid contributions from Member States-most of it still outstanding. A further US$877 million due for 2025 had not yet been received. In all, Member States now owe the UN regular budget roughly US$1.6 billion in arrears. Any institution asked to safeguard global peace, development, human rights, public health, and humanitarian relief would buckle under far less. Faced with this shortfall, the Secretary-General had no choice but to propose painful cuts for 2026: a 15 per cent reduction-more than US$577 million-and the elimination of 2,681 posts, almost one in five. Some of the steepest reductions fall on Special Political Missions, the very operations that help hold fragile peace processes together.

Yet even these cuts will not repair the cash crisis, because while inefficiencies exist in every institution, the central cause is neither waste nor mismanagement. It is insufficient and unpredictable financing-a condition that the Organization of American States (OAS) knows all too well. For more than fifteen years, the OAS has also struggled with inadequate funding. Next year, its regular budget will be significantly lower in real terms than in 2010, even though mandates have multiplied.

Both organisations-global and hemispheric-are caught in the same bind: overreliance on a handful of countries to pay the lion’s share and delayed or withheld payments from key contributors.

Who is not paying-and why it matters

The UN’s regular budget is apportioned according to national income. The United States is assessed at 22 per cent, the largest share. China is second at close to 20 per cent. When either of them pays late, the UN’s financial circumstances immediately deteriorates.

In the United States, debates over federal spending-especially foreign expenditures-have led to repeated delays. The current administration has added another dimension: postponing payments while it reviews certain aspects of UN operations. China continues to meet its obligations but has in recent years tended to pay much later in the year, leaving the UN short of cash. Other Member States, including several middle-income countries, are also paying behind schedule.

But the impact is greatest when the largest contributors are late. A predictable budget cannot survive unpredictable cashflow.

Small states: exposed and at risk

For the Caribbean and Latin America-regions of small, open economies and climate-exposed societies-the consequences are immediate and severe.

UN development and humanitarian programmes are already shrinking. Development financing-long the backbone of support for least developed and small island states-is eroding at the very moment climate impacts are accelerating.

For Small Island Developing States (SIDS), this is a survival issue. Every dollar removed from UN development and climate-adaptation programmes widens the gap between the threats faced and the ability to respond. As the impacts of climate change worsen, the loss of UN support will carry real human costs.

Peacekeeping at a crossroads

The picture in peace and security is equally troubling. Peacekeeping is often the last buffer before catastrophe. When budgets shrink and reimbursements slow, missions are forced to operate with fewer resources, weaker mandates, and diminished capacity to protect civilians.

Some major capitals are now considering reducing or restructuring their contributions to peacekeeping. Such debates are understandable; taxpayers everywhere want accountability for money spent abroad. But if the UN retreats, the world will rely more heavily on ad hoc coalitions or regional deployments, often with fewer safeguards, less transparency, and less legitimacy.

As with the OAS, when resources dwindle, only the activities preferred by the richest countries survive. That is not a recipe for balanced multilateralism.

A narrowing United Nations

As budgets tighten, the UN is being reshaped-often unintentionally-into a narrower institution. It will still debate, negotiate, and set norms, but without adequate financing, its capacity for field operations, development support, and humanitarian action will decline.

That is not the UN that the world needs. In disaster recovery, health crises, climate resilience, arms control, and the defence of small-state sovereignty, we rely on the UN to deliver support.

If insolvency forces the UN into retreat, the weakest and smallest states will be the first to feel the vacuum. And vacuums rarely remain empty; they are filled by the interests of the powerful.

What Must Change

The way forward requires only practical steps that Member States have already contemplated.

The UN’s financial instability is fundamentally a problem of timing. Contributions that arrive late, especially from the largest economies, create liquidity shocks that no amount of internal belt-tightening can absorb. The organisation would be strengthened considerably if all Member States, large and small, regarded timely payment of assessed contributions as integral to the mandates they approve. Such predictability is essential not only at the UN but also within the OAS.

There is also an outstanding proposal before the General Assembly to suspend the automatic return of unspent budget credits when liquidity falls below a safe threshold. This is financially prudent. It makes little sense for the UN to refund credits while simultaneously cutting staff and scaling back programmes due to lack of cash. A modest buffer could prevent unnecessary disruption. The OAS faces a similar anomaly: states receive a bonus for paying dues on time, while others incur no penalty for paying late or not at all.

The UN is now needed more than ever

Small countries need the UN most. It is in their interest to lead by example-paying contributions on time, honouring obligations, and encouraging the richest nations to do the same. The alternative is a weakened, less effective international system and a drift toward a world governed less by law and more by power.

The UN is already in a race to bankruptcy. Should it stumble, the world will learn quickly that when multilateralism weakens, the strong grow stronger-and the small stand alone.

Former president of the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP), Lennox Linton, says the party remains confident that its annual leadership elections represent not a triviality, but a pillar of internal democracy ‘intended to keep us united, focused, and responsive to the people we serve’.

Linton issued a statement in response to a recent statement by the current party leader, Dr. Thomas Fontaine, in which he described the constitutionally mandated annual leadership elections as a ‘wash-your-foot-and-come’ affair . Fontaine said he had concerns with the situation ‘because anybody come off the streets, wash their effet and challenge me for the leader.

‘Are you really helping the party to have persons just come off the street every year and challenge for the leadership of the party. That’s what we have,’ he added.

But in a statement, Linton, a former opposition leader, said that the National Executive Committee of the UWP had discussed the matter and that Fontaine has agreed to the release of the statement ‘because he wants us to ‘let the country decide’.

Linton said that in Dominican culture, the expression ‘wash your foot and come’ used disparagingly, as it was in this instance, suggests that the process in question is casual, unserious, and open to any and everyone without standards or structure.

‘To apply such language to the Party’s leadership elections is therefore to imply that our Constitution creates an environment where leadership contests are unstructured and disorderly, trivial and undignified, and vulnerable to instability rather than rooted in democratic discipline’

He said that the interpretation ‘is not only inaccurate; it is unfair to our founders, the framers of our Constitution and to the thousands of members who have upheld it faithfully over the years’.

Linton, who resigned as party president in July this year, said that annual elections are not a ‘wash-your-foot-and-come’ affair, adding ‘they are a deliberate democratic safeguard, designed to ensure accountability of leaders to the membership, regular renewal of mandate, transparency in the exercise of authority and the right of every member to participate meaningfully in the Party’s direction’

He said far from weakening the UWP, these provisions strengthen it by ensuring that leadership is ‘earned, renewed, and reaffirmed, not assumed by entitlement or prolonged by inertia.

‘To dismiss its processes with casual, disrespectful language is to misunderstand their purpose and to diminish the hard work of those who have sustained this movement through many decades,’ he added.

The Bermuda government says it has extended by three months the moratorium on ‘closed job categories’ ranging from administrative assistant to warehouse clerk.

In a statement, the Ministry of Economy and Labour the new extension came into effect from December 1 and is unchanged from the prior three-month period ending November 30, this year. The authorities also announced that the list of restricted job categories included under the Work Permit Policy is also unchanged from the prior three-month period ending November this year.

The list includes tennis instructor and waiters and the ministry said that according to the Work Permit Policy, ‘the application process for jobs in the Restricted job categories is the same as that for the Open category, except the employer must apply for a maximum term of one (1) year’.

In addition, the employer will have to submit evidence that any candidates screened and recommended by the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) have been appropriately considered.

The government said that the DWD is expected to respond to enquiries by employers within 10 working day and that should no response be forthcoming from DWD, the employer may submit the application with written evidence that they made enquiries.

‘.the partner of a Bermudian, Permanent Resident Certificate holder, non-Bermudian on a work permit, or other legal residents of Bermuda who have already received permission to reside may apply to seek employment.

‘Partners who do not have permission to reside may apply to reside and seek employment,’ the statement said, adding ‘the policy relating to partners was updated in September 2025.’.

The Ministry of Economy and Labour says it ‘remains focused on ensuring that our policies create meaningful job opportunities for Bermudians’ and that the Closed and Restricted Job Categories ‘are designed to encourage employers to prioritise Bermudian talent and invest in their development.

‘s Bermuda’s employment landscape evolves, the Ministry will continue to adjust these policies to reflect changing workforce needs and ensure that Bermudians remain at the centre of our economic progress,’ it added.

The United States has praised the ‘extraordinary’ role being played by Kenya in ‘trying to help stabilise Haiti’ where criminal gangs are seeking to overthrow the interim government in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.

Kenya has contributed the most troops to the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), authorised by the UN Security Council in October 2023. Despite an international embargo, arms and ammunition continued to be smuggled into the country. allowing the gangs to extend their control to new territories with the United Nations saying that their actions have led to the murders of thousands of people and the displacement of thousands more, mainly women.

US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, speaking at a signing ceremony for a health framework with Kenya described the African country as ‘one of our strongest partners in so many different fields, whether it’s the fight that we’ve fought together against terrorism on the continent but beyond that, and in our own hemisphere.

‘Kenya’s played an extraordinary role, a really heroic role in trying to help stabilize Haiti – it’s a very difficult situation,’ he told the ceremony attended by President William Ruto of Kenya.

‘They’ve carried a huge burden as a country for the better part of two years now, and had it not been for the role they played, what we are hoping to do next in Haiti would have been impossible, which is to transition to a gang suppression force.’

On September 30, this year, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2793 to authorise a new, more robust Gang Suppression Force (GSF) for Haiti. This force, which replaces the MSS mission, is mandated to conduct active counter-gang operations to neutralize, isolate, and deter armed groups.

The GSF has an initial 12-month mandate with explicit authority to use ‘all necessary measures’ and lethal force to carry out its operations while strictly adhering to international law. Its objectives include securing critical infrastructure, facilitating humanitarian aid access, and supporting conditions for elections.

It has an authorised personnel ceiling of 5,550 individuals, including 5,500 uniformed personnel and the UN resolution also called for the establishment of a UN Support Office in Haiti to provide logistical and operational support, such as food, fuel, medical care, and transportation, which the previous mission lacked.

Rubio told the ceremony the United States is ‘going to be very involved in being helpful in bridging that’ transition from the MSS to the GSF.

‘And we want them, and we hope to encourage them to continue to be engaged moving forward as we move into this new phase of trying to bring stability to Haiti, but we understand and believe they cannot do it by themselves’

Rubio said he was using the occasion here ‘to continue to encourage countries in the region and around the world to step up and contribute and be a part of this effort.

‘We need their money, we need their funds, and we need their personnel as well to make this work. If we had five or 10 countries willing to step forward and do just half of what Kenya’s done already it would be an extraordinary achievement.

‘And we hope that that will happen. It needs to happen. If we’re serious about it it needs to happen. We, everybody loves to have press conferences and put out statements about how terrible the situation is in Haiti.

‘It’s time to do something about it. And I particularly point to the countries in our hemisphere, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Caribbean Basin and beyond, that we need to step up in this hemisphere and do more. The United States will continue to do its part, but I just wanted to express, again, our gratitude,’ he told the ceremony.

Guyana Friday launched its first ever digital school with President Irfaan Ali the country must move from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based one as well as from dependence on extraction to dependence on invention.

Ali said the school is not only a milestone for Guyana but also for regional integration and the dream of a unified Caribbean learning space.

‘Today is a very important day for our region. It is a day that many who came before us hoped for, when children from Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat and Guyana can be in one classroom, in one environment, sharing one story. ‘How beautiful is that, when children across our region can be in the same lab, conducting an experiment, fusing our different cultures, telling our different stories and building truly the one Caribbean region we all want?,’ he said, noting that for the first time, students across CARICOM states can learn from each other’s cultures

‘This is not only about education, this is about dismantling barriers; removing differences,’ he said, noting that over the years, generations of Guyanese were subjected to lives of poverty, not because they didn’t want better, but because they lacked opportunity.

Ali said they were denied access to education, and with it, the chance to break the cycle and create a different future.

‘Today marks a historic moment. Every Guyanese now has the opportunity, a real chance, to learn, to grow, and to transform their lives.’

He said that the Guyana Digital School must not be seen simply as ‘an educational project’ but a ‘national development project.because a digitial economy requires a digital workforce.

‘A digital workforce requires digital skills. Digital skills require digital learning and digital learning requires digital institutions like the GuyanaDigial School’.

The authourities say that more than 30,000 students from across the Caribbean have already registered for the Guyana Digital School that they have described as ‘revolutionary, student-centred online and AI-powered learning platform’.

Ali told the ceremony that a child in rutal Guyana ‘must have the same access to quality learning as achild in Georgetown.

‘A student with disabilities must be able to access learning in formats that empower them. A working adult must be able to upskill from wherever they are,’ he said, noting that such a situation must also exist for teachers.

President Ali explained that the world is changing faster than ever as nations transition into what is widely regarded as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, driven by artificial intelligence, automation, biotechnology and digital integration.

Guyana, he said, refuses to be left behind.

‘The world has changed and is changing faster than any time before in human history. If we are to survive, we have to get on board now,’ he said, adding that before the the end of next year, Guyana will perform its first robotic-assisted surgery, with specialists conducting the procedure in the United States while the patient is in an operating theatre in Guyana, demonstrating the digital future that students must be prepared to navigate.

Allen Chastanet has tendered his resignation as leader of the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP), less than a week after he led the party to a second consecutive defeat in general elections here on Monday.

Chastanet, 65, a former prime minister was the only candidate from the UWP to have won a seat in the elections, which was won by the ruling St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) headed by Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre, who is expected to be sworn into office later on Friday. The SLP won 14 of the 17 seats in the Parliament, while the two ‘independents’, Stephenson King, a former prime minister and Richard Frederick, both of whom served in the last Pierre administration regained their seats.

In the 2021 general election, the UWP under Chastanet won two seats.

In a statement, the UWP said it had convened a ‘critical meeting..it’s first since the party’s defeat’ in the elections ‘to engage in a thorough and candid assessment of the party’s current standing and future direction.

‘During the course of the meeting, the chairman of the United Workers Party, Therold Prudent, formally advised the gathering that he is in receipt of a letter from the political leader, Allen Chastanet, in which MR. Chastanet tenders his resignation as political leader of the United Workers Party.

‘It is to be formally tabled for consideration by the national executive at its next scheduled meeting during the second week of December 2025. The UWP remains committed to transparency, democracy or democratic processes and the continued advancement of its mission of service to the people of St. Lucia,’ the statement noted.

Chastanet, who served as prime minister from 2016-2021,was elected leader of the UWP in 2013. He has so far made no public statement regarding his decision to resign.

Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell Friday warned local contractors that they could face the termination of their government contracts if they fail to adhere to the terms and conditions of their contractual agreement.

‘The days when contracts are not terminated, retention clauses and delayed payments are not enforced, it will become a thing of the past,’ Mitchell said, as he contributed to the EC$1.9 billion (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) national budget presented to Parliament on Monday, by Finance Minister, Dennis Cornwall. ‘You cannot bid for a project, have the designs, have the plans, get the contracts and then you decide you want to re-engineer and re-design to delay the work or decide you not complying with the contract because you feel it suits you,’ Prime Minister Mitchell said, while reminding contractors ‘it is the taxpayers money that is paying for infrastructure in Grenada.

Mitchell, who has responsibility for Infrastructure, told legislators that in the last three and a half years, has supported and fought for contractors but that some of these local contractors are not fighting for themselves at all.

‘They seem to think the government is blind, they can give us shoddy work, improper work, delayed work, and think they should not be held accountable. Well, I have fought for three and a half years often on their behalf, I now intend to fight on behalf of the citizens of Grenada.

‘So, for contractors who have government’s contracts, deliver the people’s work. Put the resources on the sites,’ he said, saying also that many of the contractors don’t want to work together.

‘They have no capacity, they don’t want to collaborate and that is what is driving the foreign work permits, that is what is driving more and more foreign non-Grenadians entering the construction industry in Grenada,’ said the Prime Minister.

‘Many of our local contractors prefer to remain small rather than collaborating with each other and doing things or entering into ventures so that they will get bigger contracts,’ he said, telling legislators that the lack of collaboration or working together is hindering the growth and development of local contractors.

‘Many of them don’t qualify under the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) procurement guidance,’ he said.

The government has said that millions in infrastructure contracts are awarded annually with some of the significant projects in recent years having to be extended beyond the contractual period.

Meanwhile, independent legislator, Peter David, says he is concerned by the decision of the government to suspend the Fiscal Rules of the Fiscal Resilience Act for a third time since the passage of Hurricane Beryl in July 2024.

Section 9(1) of the Fiscal Resilience Act, states that the Minister of Finance may, subject to negative resolution, suspend the public debt target and primary balance rule under section 8 of the Act, at any time during a fiscal year where any one or more of the events specified in section 9(1)(a)(b) or (c) of the legislation occurs.

The legislation further states that if the Minister determines that implementation of the public debt target and primary balance rule in the fiscal year would be unduly harmful to the public finances and macroeconomic or financial stability this will be additional justification for the suspension.

A natural disaster such as a hurricane is one of the justifications and following the passage of the hurricane in July 2024, the government triggered the enforcement of the clause with a revocation date of December 3, 2024.

But, instead of revoking the Order, the suspension was extended for the year 2025 and Finance Minister Cornwall told legislators on Monday that the suspension will be extended for the year 2026.

‘Looking ahead in 2026, the fiscal position is projected to improve relative to the 2025 budget and largely unchanged relative to the estimated outturn, signalling as planned, a gradual return to the fiscal rules and targets under the Fiscal Resilience Act in 2027,’ Cornwall said.

But, David said that one of the most concerning things for him in the budget is the casual admission that rules and targets under the Fiscal Resilience Act are ‘further suspended’ in 2026.

‘The Minister assures us of steadfast commitment to sound fiscal management while asking us to trust that this government will return to compliance once conditions permit.

‘Mr. Speaker, the FRA exists precisely because past governments could not discipline themselves. If this Government can suspend fiscal rules in 2024, 2025 and now 2026, citing Hurricane Beryl, What precedent are we setting? When will conditions ever permit fiscal discipline?’ he asked.

David, a former government minister in a previous ruling New National Party government, said he is also concerned at the more than EC$300 million deficit in the 2026 budget.

‘The overall deficit is projected at EC$309.8 million, financed primarily through a EC$257.3 million drawdown of Government deposits. In plain language, we are spending down our savings. How much remains in the tank? What happens when the deposits run dry?,’ David asked.

The Guyana government says it will continue to implement prudent socio-economic policies in an unpredictable world economic environment as it lauded the achievements of local manufacturers.

‘Everybody has been alive long enough to remember an era when oil was US$138 a barrel and we should remember not only the era of oil being US$138 per barrel but we’ve also in recent memory lived through a period more recently when oil was as low as US$13 per barrel and the reality is that oil did not stay at US$138 per barrel for very long,’ said the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh.

Singh told the the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association’s (GMSA) 30th Anniversary Dinner and Awards Ceremony that just about two and a half years ago oil was US$98 per barrel. ‘It’s not US$98 a barrel today, it’s closer to maybe 60 something dollars – a third less than it was two and a half years ago. That’s the reality of the world in which we live.

‘Gold is, of course, an important contributor to our economy, and all of us in this room we celebrate the fact that gold today is US$4,000 an ounce, but we can all in this room remember a period when we were excited about gold even crossing the US$400 threshold and we can all remember a time when gold was just US$450 an ounce.

‘Today it is US$4,000 an ounce. I don’t know who will wager whether it will remain at US$4,000 an ounce,’ Singh said, alluding to freight prices, which he reminded have skyrocketed over the last five years.

‘And so we must never forget that we live in a very uncertain and unpredictable period, and we know this as a government, and as a responsible government that recognizes the reality that we are living in an unpredictable world, and as a government that takes its responsibility seriously, and not only its responsibilities today and tomorrow, but its responsibilities next year and the year after that.’he said.

Singh said as a commodity producing economy, one of the things that matter most is ensuring not only survival but ensuring the country’s success and the realization of its prosperity, notwithstanding these uncertainties long into the future.

He told the audience that in relation to responsible policy-making ‘we must never underestimate the importance of preserving the democratic credentials of our country and preserving our standing in the international community including the integrity of our financial system as part of an integrated, unavoidable, integrated global financial and economic system’.

He said that as the country celebrates its successes, it must never take these things for granted as it can quickly disappear if the democratic credentials of the country were ever allowed to be undermined.

Acknowledging the presence of the United States Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, the Finance Minister said if Guyana takes its current position for granted it can run the risk of becoming a pariah state, or a state isolated by those who traditionally have been its friends, such as the USA.

‘We must also never take for granted the importance of macroeconomic stability and macroeconomic resilience.

‘We must never take those things for granted, and when we speak of a resilient economy, we are speaking, of course, of an economy that has strong institutional structures, including now as an oil and gas producer, an economy with a strong natural resource fund, a sound sovereign wealth fund with clear and transparent governance arrangements and clear and transparent rules, for the management of the resources in that fund’.

He said that Guyana is currently one of the very few countries of the world that has accumulated in its sovereign wealth fund enough resources to be able to pay off the entire external debt of the country and still have cash remaining.

‘But also, when we speak of resilience, we are speaking also of an economy that is more diversified and needs to be more diversified because we know that resilience can only be achieved if we diversify the sources of growth and the sources of macroeconomic and fiscal space and so you will hear us speaking incessantly about the importance of the non-oil economy, and importantly, the importance of a globally competitive non-oil economy.’

He told the audience that they are an important part of ensuring that this is realised.

‘Irrespective of the sector in which you’re operating, you too have an important role in this mission to ensure that whatever we produce is globally competitive.

‘So, you will see in our fiscal priorities a very significant reorientation of the budget away from government consumption and towards investment in economic infrastructure that is critical to competitiveness,’ Singh said, recalling that in 2020 when government came into office, the public investment component of the capital budget in 2019 accounted for less than 25 per cent of the total budget.

He said that the public investment component of the budget in 2024 accounted for more than 50 per cent of the overall budge because of government’s deliberate policy position.

‘The policy position that we will not engage in inefficient government consumption but instead, focus on investing in the things that matter for long term economic growth and long-term prosperity and for long term competitiveness,’ he said, adding that the government had to make hard choices as to what should be priority investments.

‘Because investing in the things that matter for the long term are not necessarily the things that are most popular in the short term, but you have in President Ali’s government, a government that will not sacrifice the long term at the altar of short term or immediate term expediency,’ he said , adding that ‘it requires an explicit policy position, it requires strong leadership and a strong government to ensure that the right decisions can be realized, ensuring fiscal sustainability.

‘We will ensure that our economy continues to grow rapidly but to be equally clear, particularly in this era of soundbites and competing promises and counter promises, you have in this government, a government that is keenly focused on responsible economic policy-making because more so than any other time in our country’s history, that is what is needed, not soundbites. This is a serious time for our country. We need to be responsible, and we need to be strategic,’ Singh said.

BMSA president, Rafeek Khan said his organisation is entering into the fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) characterised by the fusion of physical, digital, and biological systems through technologies and genetic engineering.

He said that this revolution is driven by data and connectivity, creating a new era of smart, automated, and interconnected systems and that it is a new era where the service sectors of the economy will be bridging the gap and driving the overall economic growth.

Khan made reference to some of the major interconnected services to bridge the gap for manufacturing will include transportation and distribution, finance and Investment, communication, storage and warehousing and professional services.

He urged the GMSA, in preparation for the new wave of industrial development, prepare itself in order to serve its members and the overall growth of our new economy and at this point, he unveiled a future campus that he noted would bring value to all stakeholders.

‘About five years ago I stood on this platform serving then as President of GMSA, and I echoed a voice from our President Dr Mohammed Irfaan Ali – to build consortiums. This is the only way for many Guyanese companies to realize the benefits of the major economic growth. Today I am pleased to say that we have witnessed successful consortiums formed with international companies within various sectors of the economy,’ he added.