See full statement read by Finance Minister Winston Jordan at a PNCR press conference on Friday, below:
Highlights of the Achievements by the APNU+AFC Coalition
As Minister Norton has set out there is a record in Government that the PNCR and the wider coalition should be proud of.
As a Coalition we made several promises to the people of Guyana and we have kept those promises.
We promised that we would increase the wages of public servants who were suffering with starvation wages under the PPP. In just three years the minimum wage was rapidly increased by nearly 52 percent from $39,570, in 2015, to $64,000, in 2018. It took the PPP administration nine years to move the minimum wage by a similar percentage, or from $26,070, in 2006 to $39,570, in 2015. The Minister of Finance has assured that all government workers can expect salary increases going forward, especially in 2019 and 2020. The APNU+AFC promised to increase old age pension and we did; from the paltry sum of $13,125 received under the PPP- today it is over $20,000.
APNU+AFC reduced the PPP imposed VAT from 16% to 14%.
APNU+AFC promised a reduction of the Berbice Bridge toll. On January 1, 2016 the toll was reduced from $2200.00 to $1900.00 for passenger cars and buses, along with a 10 percent reduction for all other classes of vehicles, saving people money and decreasing transportation costs which in turn drives down the cost of goods for consumers.
We have created jobs, with an estimated 15,000 jobs created by our GO-Invest programme alone.
The coalition promised to address the criminality that was rampant under the stewardship of the dishonest PPP and we have delivered. Piracy is now a thing of the past. Our police force is now better trained and equipped. We continue to address the crime situation and recent figures from the Guyana Police Force show that serious crime continues to be on the decrease; people feel safe in their communities.
APNU+AFC restored decency and cleanliness to our capital city; today Georgetown is once again a Garden City.
The promised establishment of Passport Offices in Berbice, Linden and Essequibo are a reality. Gone are the long lines and crowds that gathered daily outside the passport office in Georgetown.
While in government, the PPP failed to encourage the greater use of solar and other renewable forms of energy. APNU+AFC promised to pursue renewables and we have.
APNU+AFC promised Guyanese a good life and we continue to deliver on that promise. The establishment of the four new capital towns have served to decentralised public service to resident of the Regions where those towns are located.
APNU+AFC promised to increase access to reliable potable water. Over the last four years’ thousands of residents are able to access potable water in their homes, many of them for the first time.
Thousands of residents on the East Bank Berbice now travel to their destinations in comfort and ease. The APNU+AFC promised the resident that we would build a modern asphalt road and we kept that promise. The $1.2 Billion East Bank Berbice road rehabilitation project is near completion, after years of neglect by the PPP.
Whilst the PPP is keen to talk down Guyana and plays its dishonest tricks to try and get their way back into power, my Party and the coalition have been getting on with moving Guyana forward.
